FORMER MP Roger Mullin is among the new faces on the SNP’s ruling body this year – but it’s not his first time serving on the committee.

He was a member of the NEC 27 years ago and said there had been huge changes in the SNP since then.

“I think part of the problem has been that in recent years the party has grown enormously,” he said.

“It has changed some of the ways it tries to operate – however quite a lot of the things they have done have I think, in many people’s judgements, not improved the situation.

“One of the things I think strongly needs doing in relation to the NEC is not just about structure, it is also about the culture and the processes and how it chooses to operate.”

Mullin, an honorary professor at Stirling University’s Management School, said research had shown problems were usually related to the culture of an organisation, rather than individuals.

“The growth of the SNP was super-fast from 2014. If you look at the 56 that were elected in 2015, the vast majority of them were active in the party in other kind of official capacities,” he said.

“They were suddenly drawn out of the organisation to become elected officials. That combined with the huge growth inevitably causes organisational strain.”

He argued the party should be focusing on “core business” – which is progressing towards independence.

“I want us to be more professional, I want the conduct of business to be constructive, I want it to be open,” he said.

“Through the achievement of those three things we will become more trusted amongst the membership.”

Mullin said these aims could be achieved through actions such as having a focus on achieving independence and making sure different views can be discussed “rationally”.

He added: “If we do all this it will make it much easier to tackle the big challenges of next year, like the Holyrood elections, potentially an independence referendum.

“There isn’t a magic wand – but you have a chance of getting things calmed down if the organisation gives itself a focus.”