Massive 10k fall in SNP membership numbers revealed as others 'on the brink' of leaving
The party had 64,525 members as of June this year
Membership of the SNP is continuing to plummet, with the party losing almost 10,000 activists over the past year amid warnings many others are “on the brink” of leaving.
The latest annual accounts show the party had 64,525 members as of June, down from around 74,000 the year before. In 2019, the SNP had some 125,000 members, meaning the total has almost halved over the intervening period.
It follows a stormy few years for the party, which has been rocked by an ongoing police investigation into its funding and finances as well as declining fortunes in the polls. Peter Murrell, its former chief executive, was charged in connection with the embezzlement of funds earlier this year.
The recent general election saw the SNP drop from 48 MPs in 2019 to just nine.
Alex Neil, a former senior SNP minister, said the party’s troubles were "totally self-inflicted". He said there was a silent majority "who are not saying anything publicly, but who are utterly frustrated".
He said: "Many of them are on the brink of leaving the party. I'm not one of them - I'm sticking with the SNP because I believe it is the independence bus, and the only bus that can get us independence, working with other pro-independence parties."
Mr Neil referenced the recent row over Angus Robertson, the SNP external affairs secretary, meeting with Israel’s deputy ambassador, and suggested membership will have dropped further over the past couple of weeks.
The former minister told The Scotsman: "Time is running out for the 2026 [Holyrood] election. We've only 20 months to go until we face the electorate again, and quite frankly, if you look at the events of last week, including the Israeli fiasco with the embassy, if you measured the membership again today we'd be even further down."
Mr Neil added: "I think we've still got time to turn it around, but they're not turning it around with all the mistakes they're making and the blunders, last week being a classic example. They're running out of time, they've got to get their act together, or not only will we lose a lot of membership, but we'll lose a lot of MSPs in the election."
One party figure told The Scotsman said there was a lot of anger within the membership.
In his statement in the accounts, party treasurer Stuart McDonald said the SNP needed to “redouble” its efforts to recruit more members.
“Our membership has fallen from recent historic highs,” he wrote. “In addition, our members continue to face the same cost-of-living pressures as everybody else. This impacts not only on membership income, but on donations and fundraising income too.
“The party continues to seek to pre-empt cancellations by offering membership payment options such as skip, holiday or reduced giving. At all levels we need to redouble our efforts to recruit new members from the many supporters we identify every week.”
The accounts, published by the Electoral Commission, show the SNP recorded a financial surplus of £661,568 during 2023, compared to a deficit of £804,278 in 2022.
This was mainly achieved by two levies imposed on party branches, totalling £670,000 - one to fund the Rutherglen and Hamilton West by-election last year, and another more significant levy to ensure the party was well placed to fight the general election.
Meanwhile, the documents show the party still owes Mr Murrell £60,000.
The SNP’s auditors only signed off the accounts on a “qualified” basis because some documentation was missing. “During the course of our audit, we identified that original documentation in respect to some items of cash and cheques received, relating to membership, donations and raffle income, were not kept by the party prior to July 2023,” they said.
The SNP said the 2022 auditor report requested a change to the recording of cheques received, meaning that both a physical copy and an electronic record was required. This new process has been in place for 12 months, but started within this financial year, the party said.
An SNP spokeswoman said: “As the largest political party by far in Scotland, we encourage everyone who believes in our mission of delivering for people across the country by building a better future as an independent country to join the SNP.”
Scottish Labour said the accounts showed people abandoning the SNP. Jackie Baillie, Scottish Labour’s deputy leader, said: “It’s clear for all to see that the SNP is deep in financial chaos.
“As outstanding bills are left unpaid, the SNP is facing an exodus of party members and dwindling numbers of donors. The simple fact is that the people of Scotland no longer view the tired, scandal-ridden and incompetent SNP as a serious party of government.”
Scottish Labour does not publish membership figures as part of its accounts. Documents for UK Labour show membership fell by 37,000 to 370,450 by the end of 2023 — a drop of 37,000 from 2022.
Scottish Conservative chairman Craig Hoy said: “These latest set of accounts continue to raise serious questions for the SNP.”
He said it was astonishing the SNP was still in debt to Mr Murrell, adding: “Auditors also again raised concerns over the party’s bookkeeping in relation to how they documented income that was received through membership and fundraisers, which is highly irregular and meant they could only provide a qualified audit.
“The SNP must be fully transparent over their finances as a matter of urgency, rather than typically keeping the public in the dark.”
The SNP said it would be “inappropriate” to comment on the loan from Mr Murrell while the police investigation into party finances is ongoing.
A source said: “The Tories are bankrolled by Russians and donors they themselves have called ‘racist’ while the SNP is financed by ordinary Scots. Like the Scottish Tories, these comments are nonsensical and pointless.”
The confirmation of falling membership numbers came as it was reported SNP members of the party's Dalkeith branch had voted in favour of a 'motion of censure' against Mr Robertson.
The external affairs secretary has apologised following a meeting with Israel’s deputy ambassador to the UK, saying the discussions should have been limited to the need for a ceasefire.
Mr Robertson’s meeting prompted a backlash from some within the SNP, with MSP Ruth Maguire saying it appeared to “legitimise a genocidal, apartheid regime who continue to commit war crimes”.
First Minister John Swinney held talks by video call on Wednesday with Dr Husam Zomlot - the head of the Palestinian mission to the UK - to discuss the situation in the Gaza Strip.
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