CHRIS McEleny has been appointed as interim general secretary of Alex Salmond’s Alba Party.
McEleny was a high profile defector from the SNP to Alba in the run up to the Scottish Parliament elections.
The Inverclyde councillor was the lead candidate for Alba in the west of Scotland, but he failed to get elected after a disappointing election for the party saw it fail to win any Holyrood seats.
McEleny, a former candidate for deputy leader of the SNP, was also one of the architects of the so-called “independence Plan B”, a policy which called for bolder action to progress the case for Scottish independence in the event that Boris Johnson continues to veto an independence referendum.
He became the first elected representative of Alba when he joined Salmond on the day the party was launched.
READ MORE: Why SNP should be taking Chris McEleny’s indyref back-up plan seriously
McEleny will be tasked with establishing the party’s organisation and putting in place structures to be approved by the party’s national executive committee, which will be elected at the party’s inaugural conference, scheduled to be held in September.
His interim appointment was approved by the party’s 32 candidates that represented Alba in May’s Scottish Parliament elections and includes councillors Lynne Anderson and Caroline McAllister as interim local government conveners and former MP Corri Wilson as interim membership convener.
Salmond said: “Alba is strong and growing. These appointments will consolidate that progress through to the inaugural conference in September when the members will elect their executive and office bearers.
“I am grateful to Chris, Lynne, Caroline and Corri for agreeing to take forward these important tasks.”
McEleny said: “Alba is Scotland’s newest and fastest growing political party. Our membership numbers are rising week on week since the Scots Parliament elections. Alba can make a valuable contribution to the independence case.”
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