Tbh I kind of doubt the SNP would pursue EU membership. It's nice to keep it open, because it represents a contrast with Westminster, but the idea of Scotland being in an separate economic bloc to rUK seems ... disadvantageous, especially if they need a hard border.
No sh**t. It's hard for me to understand how so many Scots can think that independence and a clear break with England will be anything but a nightmare. Braveheart was a fun movie and solid for the mid-90s (though not as good as Spice World) but it's time to move on.
Anyway it's not clear to me based on what I've read that Alba was truly founded for ideological reasons and largely political ones. But, to be fair, it DOES seem like it would make sense for a Scottish political party catering to the center-right to right-wing nationalist vote.
Even if the center-left to left wing block of nationalist is larger, I seem to remember polling from the late 00's through to 2016 indicating that of the nationalist, pro-independence portion of the Scottish electorate, something like maybe 25%-33% also self-identified as conservative or right-wing or whatever.
There was also an interesting paper from (I think) 2016 that analyzed IndyRef1 voters and Brexit referendum voters, and found that maybe 30% of those who voted for "Independence" also voted for "Leave."
So there is a constituency there maybe, but making a party to cater to them only feels like it would work in a new electoral system, maybe in, ya know, a newly independent country maybe. Right? Even with the voting system used for the Scottish Parliament right now, would there be much for Alba to work with even if they got say 80% of the 30% of conservative nationalists?
