An Angry Bitter Woman Scorned, Brutal and Uncaring SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon is ‘dumped’ by disgraced ex SNP Minister Mark McDonald, in a ‘tit for tat’ war; Sturgeon says that McDonald is unwelcome in Holyrood Parliament, for £200,000 in wages, McDonald won’t be paying attention to Sturgeon’s demands for resignation, too late to play the 'moral guardian'

Dear All

Something happened yesterday, after disgraced ex SNP Minister Mark McDonald resigned from the SNP, an angry bitter Nicola Sturgeon appeared on TV. After being ‘dumped’ by him, in a rambling interview Sturgeon couldn’t look the interviewer in the eye, although she did 'look by relax' to see if the interviewer was buying her story. 

It was a panic stricken Sturgeon firmly on the back foot trying to assert some kind of moral authority and leadership, and failing dramatically at both!

So, bitter Nicola gets ‘dumped’ and then she goes on TV to say that Mark McDonald is not welcome at the Holyrood Parliament.

Who is she to speak for the Parliament?

Isn’t Nicola Sturgeon a bit late to the party to get on her high horse and start to promote herself as the ‘moral guardian of the universe’?

The fact of the matter is that Nicola Sturgeon personally backed this loser which she wants to now erase by calling for him to resign as a MSP.

Nicola Sturgeon said:

"He was elected as an SNP MSP. If his behaviour is such that he himself considers he cannot continue as an SNP MSP, then it would be appropriate to give his constituents the opportunity to elect a new MSP"

Sturgeon get ‘dumped’ and now she starts a bitter ‘tit for tat’ war, doesn’t look like Nicola Sturgeon can count on McDonald’s vote in future. Mark McDonald formally resigned from the SNP on Tuesday; but he stands to collect £200,000 in pay before the 2021 Holyrood election, so it is highly doubtful that he cares what Sturgeon thinks.

Think about it £200,000 or resign and get next to nothing, plus a lengthy spell of unemployment, plus McDonald has two kids and a wife to support, what happened to ‘caring Nicola’, the mask seems to have slipped rather badly.

Oh what about the children Nicola?

It is standard OP for the SNP to want to bury their mistakes, if you look at others they were discarded pretty quickly from the party, as the SNP is run like a Cult, even inner circle members can be sacrificed if they endanger the ‘rat ship’.     

The real bonus of this unhappy episode is that Nicola Sturgeon, initially downplayed what McDonald’s was doing and his behaviour, and publicly backed him by saying said he would continue to be a “good MSP”. Now, given the revelations, she is forced to do a 180 and try to distance herself by saying he was no longer welcome at parliament.

In attempting to shore up her position and that of her sleazy party, she added the SNP would be “very optimistic” of holding Mr McDonald’s seat in a by-election. Personally I wonder about this, my thoughts are this, this guy wasn’t a rank and file MSP, he was a minister in her government, plus when you add in how toxic Alex Salmond is, you would have to think that the SNP would want to field a woman candidate.

This would be the SNP trying to create an air of clearing the decks. If this was the case, that wouldn’t go down too well with Salmond since he doesn’t like being out of the limelight, plus his media career can’t be described as having taken off.

Alex Salmond's services wouldn't be required if a by-election is going to take place, even a win for the SNP is a miserable result if Salmond is the winner.

Although the SNP beat the Scottish Conservatives by a huge margin, 11,630 votes in 2016; the Conservatives have had a boost right across the north east which technically means that Donside seat is now far more marginal. 

Who would get in if a by-election happened would depend on how the McDonald scandal played on the doorstep, let’s face it, there would be only one issue in that by-election.

Labour MSP Rhoda Grant said:

"Mark McDonald decided his conduct was not fit for a minister or an SNP MSP - but somehow it is acceptable for an MSP without party affiliation. People in Aberdeen Donside will rightly question that."

Conservative MSP Alexander Burnett also called for McDonald to quit as an MSP, so there is momentum and will for a by-election. As I mentioned earlier, McDonald’s future is very bleak and there is the £200,000 in wages to think about, I doubt he will want to give that up anything soon. By remaining an MSP, Mark McDonald will effectively ‘stink’ the place up at Holyrood and further lower its standing with the public. Bill Walker tried to hang on but in the end his problems were too great and he left.

Conservative MSP Alexander Burnett added:

“The SNP now need to come clean and publish the report into his behaviour so that the public can judge whether he is fit to remain as an MSP.”

As McDonald sits on the backbenches when he returns next week, it will be a constant major embarrassment for Nicola Sturgeon, there won’t be closure since the report into McDonald isn’t being fully published. This leaves many questions unanswered about the content of the messages, the timescale and intensity of his harassment, and whether any SNP MSPs defended him or decided to challenged his accusers in private.

Although McDonald says he is coming back, he is already pencilled in to be a pariah, no party wants his office nearby them, perhaps open plan in the main foyer or a suitable broom cupboard maybe found.

Finally, Nicola Sturgeon TV interview was a personally disaster for her, her open warfare on Mark McDonald may have ticked a lot of boxes for some, however, he could be the albatross that could bring down the SNP.

And end Sturgeon’s leadership, and as a bonus, scupper many votes for the party which is in decline, that would be terminal decline not a blip. 

The bitterness in Sturgeon’s TV was plain for all to see, the realisation that she is not in control of her own party, and can’t influence events will lead many to question when a leadership challenge will happen. Such a challenge will probably come from those who current aren't expressing a desire to be tied to her leadership.

Yours sincerely

George Laird

The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University