THE controversy over SNP membership was more a “cock-up than a conspiracy” according to one of the candidates to be party leader and first minister.
Peter Murrell, resigned as SNP chief executive after it was admitted that the media was given false information about the number of members who had left the party in recent years.
An article that the SNP lost 30,000 members in a few years was dismissed by the party HQ but later was admitted to be accurate when membership numbers were disclosed after leadership contenders requested them.
Asked if the distribution of misleading figures was a lie or a mistake, Humza Yousaf said he did not believe it was a deliberate attempt to mislead.
He said: “I think it was more cock-up than conspiracy, If I’m honest.
“I know Peter [Murrell], I’ve known him for many years and he’s never somebody, that I know, has ever intentionally misled or lied.
“He’s a good person who’s now done the honourable thing because the outcome was that the press was not given the true facts around membership numbers.
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“He’s done the honourable thing but let’s not take away from the fact that Peter has been an exceptional servant of the SNP.”
Yousaf said he didn’t know why so many people had left the party but that he wanted to understand their reasons.
Speaking on a visit to the Sikh Gurdwara in the southside of Glasgow he said there have been issues of concern for some.
On why the party had lost so many members, Yousaf said: “I don’t know is the honest answer. I suspect there will be a number of reasons.
"One thing I have noted is quite a lot of members wanted to re-join after their membership has lapsed so that will be part of it.
“I don’t doubt that there are issues such as for example, the fact we’ve been talking about process instead of policy for far too long.
“I’ve heard perhaps it’s to do with GRR but I equally know many people who joined the party because of that issue over the stance that we have taken.”
He added that government ministers had to “reflect” on the loss of party members.
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“I suspect all of us in the party, particularly those of us at a senior level, will have to reflect really hard on why that’s happened. I don’t know the reasons why people have left and if I am leader of the SNP, one of the first things I’ll want to do is understand and reach out to those members that have left us and get them back."
He said he wanted to grow the party adding: “I don’t want to see it reduce any further.”
After Ash Regan, one of the contenders, said the election should be paused, Yousaf said he disagreed, adding, he had seen “no credible or tangible evidence whatsoever that there’s anything wrong with the integrity of the ballot”.
He said: “I’ve got absolute faith in the integrity of the ballot.
"The membership issue and the way the membership issues have been dealt with frankly was an own goal.
"It should’ve been dealt with far better and we should have released those numbers at the beginning of this contest but I’ve not seen any credible or tangible evidence whatsoever that there’s anything wrong with the integrity of the ballot.”
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