Selecting pro-independence non-SNP members to stand at Westminster will harness the “campaigning energy” of the referendum, according to the party’s new depute leader.
Dundee East MP Stewart Hosie suggested a so-called Yes Alliance during his bid to replace Nicola Sturgeon when she stepped up to the top job an idea which was formally adopted on Friday.
He backed his new boss’s rallying call for the SNP to aim to “win” the general election in Scotland by securing more votes and seats than Labour.
Recent polls have suggested the party could command 45% of the popular vote in Scotland and as such stand to gain many MPs.
One survey put that number at 45 Westminster seats but, privately, senior insiders have played down such a high number of gains, although they do expect to at least double the current number of six.
Treasury spokesman Mr Hosie told The Courier: “We now need to put in place everything we need to do, as Nicola said, to make sure we win next year.
“There are other people that you and I and others saw coming through the Yes campaign and if they are able to stand through the mechanism the SNP are suggesting, that would be fantastic.
“It would keep the campaigning energy of the independence movement together.”
Mr Hosie said he was “absolutely delighted” to have won the contest against Transport Minister Keith Brown and Youth Employment Secretary Angela Constance.
He gained 42.2% in the first round of voting and then, once Ms Constance’s votes were redistributed as she was eliminated from the contest, he beat Mr Brown by 55.5% to 45.5%.
Ms Sturgeon said both the other candidates had a “big part” to play under her leadership and Mr Hosie heaped praise on his former rivals.
“It was an extraordinary contest,” he said. “Open, democratic, friendly. I think what it showed, this whole contest with not a cross word said over four weeks criss-crossing the country, the unity of the party is palpable.
“I think what we are all looking forward to is next year’s election.”