The Scotsman's Political Correspondent Rachel Amery speaks to the SNP's campaign director Angus Robertson MSP about the 2026 Scottish Parliament election.
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#SNP #SNPconference #AngusRobertson #politics #Holyrood2026 #RachelAmery
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00:00Hello, I'm Rachel Lehmann, the Scotsman's political correspondent, and I'm at day two of the SNP conference here in Aberdeen,
00:05and I'm joined by Angus Robertson, MSP, who is the campaign director for the SNP's 2026 election campaign.
00:14Well, let's just start off. How is conference going? We're now one day in. We've already had some big speeches. How's it going?
00:20I think the conference is going very well. Conference is always a mixture of different things.
00:25It's what goes on in the hall. That's what people at home probably see the most of.
00:30John Swinney making speeches, Stephen Flynn making speeches, various MSP's and delegates talking about the things that one discusses at conference.
00:40I'm slightly unusual as a conference attendee this year because I'm the campaign director for next year,
00:45so I'm spending most of my time attending training sessions for candidates and organisers and local constituencies
00:53and speaking with people throughout the party because we've got a number of campaign technological developments that are really important if you want to win elections,
01:04and we're in a good place with that, but it involves people learning the new techniques compared to the old ones.
01:11I was the SNP's campaign director in 2007 and 2011, so the first national election that we'd ever won, and then winning the absolute majority.
01:21So I've got a good sort of starting point of an understanding of what it is that one needs to do to win an election,
01:28and notwithstanding the fact that the SNP is in the lead in these elections, in the polls at the moment, in the run-up to the elections.
01:34You can't take anything for granted, which is why I'm spending most of my time with our candidates, our campaigners,
01:42making sure that we're doing everything that we need to do to win the elections next year.
01:47So you spoke a little bit there about some of the things you're having to think about at the moment,
01:51and what is it that you're doing this year that is perhaps different from previous years to try and get that majority?
01:56Yesterday, John Swinney, you're very much saying that to get this second independence referendum,
02:01you're going to need that 65-seat majority.
02:02That, I mean, is arithmetically not meant to happen in Holyrood.
02:06So what is it you are going to do this year to make it different and make that win happen?
02:10Well, there's a few things.
02:11I mean, the first thing to bear in mind is that there was a total change of mentality in the SNP in the run-up to 2007,
02:19which was to believe you could win.
02:21Now, most people who are sport fans know that you have to believe in your team,
02:26and the team needs to believe in itself before it's going to win anything,
02:29and that kind of explains why the SNP, in large part, had not won prior to that.
02:33So the first thing is, do we have a winning mentality?
02:36And part of a winning mentality is you take nothing for granted and you work as if it's not given.
02:41And it's not given.
02:42In a democracy, no result is pre-programmed.
02:45Nobody has an automatic right to win.
02:47Nobody should take anything for granted.
02:50So the most important thing is, does one have the right mindset?
02:53And I think we do.
02:54Then you need to work as if your life depends on it, that the result depends on it.
03:00And the political geeks who are watching this will remember that in 2007,
03:07the SNP won by one seat.
03:10And in one of those seats, the majority involved a recount.
03:17That's how close winning and not winning was in 2007.
03:21And we all know the history of what happened after 2007.
03:24We had an SNP government for the first time, and, and, and, and, and.
03:28So all of that learning, we are now applying to this election campaign.
03:34And in the meantime, we've developed the ways in which we have campaigned.
03:39So we have, at the heart of what we do is speaking to voters,
03:44hearing what their needs, interests, concerns, expectations are.
03:48Some people can never be persuaded, but many people can.
03:51So we're out there and we're introducing candidates,
03:54and we're talking about policies that matter to people.
03:57We know what the issues are that people are concerned about.
03:59We're speaking to them about that.
04:01And we're doing a bit of appliance of science.
04:04There's only so much I can talk about that.
04:05Before the election, maybe speak to you after the election about some of it.
04:09But, you know, there's, we have a data management system.
04:12All political parties have that.
04:14So that we, we have a good idea of who is likely to vote for us,
04:21who's likely not to vote for us, who is persuadable.
04:24And we go around having the conversations that we can with people.
04:27And so we both have that as a system, which is based on, around an app,
04:33which has been rolled out specially for this election.
04:35So that makes it really easy to know where you need to go,
04:38who you need to speak to, how you record the information.
04:41And then at the centre in the campaign,
04:44we can see how we're doing right across the country.
04:47It means we, where we, we know where we're doing really well.
04:49It shows us where we need to do more.
04:53And to finally answer your question,
04:55I think one of the big differences to win big,
05:00because we need to win big to win a majority,
05:02is that we also need to win seats that we currently don't hold.
05:07So not only are we working really hard to hold all of the seats that we do,
05:12we're also working really hard to win seats that we don't.
05:15And therein lies the task at hand for us.
05:20And our candidates are in place.
05:24Our candidates are working.
05:26And I'm very encouraged about what everybody's doing.
05:31And wherever we can be more encouraging to do more of one thing or less of another,
05:36help, advice, whatever it takes, all political parties do this.
05:40I think we're quite good at it in the SNP.
05:43And we're just making sure that we can try and do as much as we can
05:46to win as many seats as we can
05:47and win the election as big as we can next year,
05:51without taking anything for granted.
05:53It's all about hard graft.
05:54And that is what we're doing.
05:56Now, can't not talk about some of the elections,
05:59the campaigns that have not gone well for the SNP in recent years.
06:03The Hamilton by-election in June didn't go the way the SNP wanted.
06:07The general election last year,
06:08you've pretty much lost all your seats across the Central Belt,
06:10particularly Edinburgh and Glasgow,
06:12because you yourself are an Edinburgh candidate.
06:15So what's your thoughts there?
06:17Are you worried about the previous election losses
06:21that the SNP has suffered in these areas
06:23and how Scottish Labour have done quite well in those areas in recent elections?
06:27Is that a worry for you?
06:27So there's no doubt that last year,
06:31the Scottish electorate wanted to get the Tories out.
06:35And they concluded that the best way to do that was to vote Labour.
06:39And that's what they did.
06:41That was a UK general election.
06:43I think a great many people who voted Labour,
06:46whether they were Labour supporters
06:47or just people who hoped to get rid of the Tories
06:50and things would be better,
06:51a lot of those people are very disappointed now.
06:54And I'd go as far as to say a lot of them
06:57are not going to vote Labour next year.
07:00And so for us, as we turn into the turn of the year,
07:05as people are thinking more about the Scottish Parliament elections,
07:09I think Keir Starmer and Labour
07:13is not going to be a solution for most people.
07:15And so if they had voted to get the Tories out,
07:19tactically voting Labour,
07:21I think a great many of those people are in play.
07:24I know so because I'm knocking on doors.
07:26I represent central Edinburgh.
07:28I'm canvassing every week.
07:29I'm having these conversations.
07:31I think Labour's in big trouble, incidentally,
07:33having experienced many, many conversations.
07:38So you asked about the last general election.
07:41You also asked about a by-election.
07:42All by-elections are different.
07:47Are there things that, in hindsight,
07:49I think the SNP might have done differently
07:51in the by-election?
07:52Yes, absolutely.
07:54By-elections are in a special class of their own
07:57as opposed to national elections.
07:58That's not to say there aren't lessons to be learned.
08:00There are.
08:01And many of them are organisational, incidentally.
08:03And we have learnt those lessons
08:05when we're in the process of making the necessary adjustments.
08:08And certain constituencies are very representative
08:13of an average Scotland, and some aren't.
08:17So none of that says to me an SNP win is automatic.
08:22None of it suggests that we are taking anything for granted.
08:25But the polls are very different.
08:26The polls now are suggesting that the SNP
08:29is significantly ahead of the other political parties.
08:33I think when people think about
08:37who would they rather have as First Minister,
08:40dealing with the cost-of-living crisis,
08:41dealing with the NHS,
08:43should it be John Swinney or any of the rest,
08:46I think most people...
08:48Well, we know so.
08:49We know so from the polls.
08:50Most people believe that John Swinney
08:51is significantly better than the others.
08:53And there are other factors also in this election campaign
08:57that will play a role.
08:58Nigel Farage's party is polling in a way
09:02that it wasn't that.
09:03That is very disappointing to me
09:06because so far Scottish politics
09:09has not had right-wing populists elected
09:13in any great number.
09:15So that isn't a given.
09:18We'll be very clear in pointing out
09:21that that should not be an inevitability.
09:22And I hope the other mainstream political parties
09:25play their role in that too.
09:28But we are working very hard
09:30to make sure that we maximise our vote.
09:33And as a result of that,
09:34that will depress the vote of other political parties.
09:38And, yeah, I mean, there's not...
09:42There isn't a tremendous secret anything
09:46about the electoral process.
09:47It's about more people to vote for you
09:49than vote for the others
09:50and more of your people to turn out for you
09:52than do for the other political parties as well.
09:55And I'm often reminded when I come to SNP conferences,
09:59and in fairness to the other political parties,
10:01it's exactly the same.
10:02The people who turn up
10:03are more often than not
10:07the people who deliver the leaflets
10:09and knock on the doors
10:09and do all of the stuff that helps democracy work.
10:12And all political parties are immensely indebted
10:17to all of those people,
10:18and so should everybody,
10:19because if we want normal, moderate, mainstream politics
10:24to continue in this country
10:26in ways, sadly, where it's being undermined in others,
10:28it really matters that we campaign well,
10:32that we turn out to vote,
10:34that we vote for people
10:36who are worth having in office.
10:40And I'm doing my bit,
10:42and the SNP's doing its bit
10:43to make sure that that's the case
10:45and that the SNP is re-elected.
10:48And we want to get that majority
10:50so that we can all have a say
10:53in the country's future in a referendum,
10:54because it's coming.
10:57So with you in charge,
10:59how much is it your responsibility
11:00if the party doesn't get a majority
11:02or even doesn't get enough seats
11:04to form the next government?
11:06How much of that is down to you, essentially?
11:09You know, I'll be absolutely honest,
11:10I've not even thought about that,
11:11so thank you very much.
11:13Which was shorthand for
11:14it's your fault if it doesn't happen.
11:17And I guess the opposite is true too.
11:22Look, we've all got a part to play.
11:27Elections are decided by the electorate.
11:28And the electorate in Scotland
11:32has in recent years
11:33elected a majority in the Scottish Parliament
11:35who are committed to having a vote
11:39about the country's future.
11:41And it should matter to all of us
11:42who are Democrats
11:43that in a democracy,
11:47when people vote for something to happen,
11:48it should happen.
11:50And we are going to the country
11:53saying very clearly,
11:55vote for us
11:56if there is a majority elected
12:00that are supporting a referendum,
12:02that is what should happen.
12:04And that should not be contentious.
12:06People can fall out about
12:07whether they want to vote yes or no.
12:09I get that.
12:09And we can have that conversation
12:11and that will come
12:13because a referendum will come
12:16because half the population
12:20and more than half the population
12:22actually want to vote yes
12:23and even more than that
12:24want there to be a vote
12:25if the people decide
12:26that there should be a vote.
12:28So, yes, it's on me
12:31as much as it's on any other candidate,
12:32as much as it's on any other SNP member
12:34and or voter
12:35and the rest of the country.
12:36We're all in this together
12:38and I'll play my part
12:39in trying to make sure
12:40that we win
12:42and win well.
12:46Well, Angus Robertson,
12:47thank you very much
12:48for joining us with The Scotsman
12:49and taking us through
12:49the election strategy
12:50on day two of the SNP conference.
12:53I hope I've not given away
12:53too many secrets.
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