New correspondence leaked to the Mail on Sunday shows John Swinney has struggled to tackle the drought.
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In a report, SNP Treasurer Stuart McDonald told colleagues falling membership was the SNP’s “most significant challenge.”
He said: “Since peak membership in 2018/2019 numbers have approximately halved.
“Membership income in 2023 was down by almost 25% compared to 2015 and it has continued to fall throughout 2024.”
He added: “Colleagues will recall our published membership at June 1 was 64,525 and this trend — both in terms of numbers and income — has continued into the second half of the year.”
With 4,000 members quitting each year since 2023, a continuation of that trend suggests the party will now have a membership of 60,000.
Mr McDonald said the 2023 accounts returned a surplus of £660,000 only because of money taken from branches by party HQ; otherwise, they would have reported their “third deficit on the trot, albeit a small one.”
He warned that a smaller membership would have a knock-on impact on other funding streams such as donations and fundraising.
The paper also revealed that from next month, SNP MSPs will have to pay more of that salary to party coffers. They will be expected to pay £3,900 or 4.3% of their salary, whichever is higher.
The party has seen income fall in recent years, with major donors all but drying up, in part because of Operation Branchform, the ongoing police investigation into the party’s finances.
The SNP’s poor result in last July’s election meant it also lost around £900,000 in Short money — the public funding given to all opposition parties in the Commons with two or more MPs.
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Meanwhile, there is growing anger among activists over proposed governance reforms which could reduce further the money going to local branches.
The review was set up by Humza Yousaf to look at party democracy and the oversight of the party’s executive following the resignation of Peter Murrell.
A copy of the document, which has been leaked to Wings Over Scotland and Robin McAlpine, suggests the “branch dividend” — the proportion of membership income allocated to branches — will be reduced from 25% to 15%.
The party could also soon massively increase the number of signatures needed to stand for the leadership.
Currently, someone interested in running the SNP needs 100 nominations from party members across 20 branches.
The new rule will require around 1,500 signatures — approximately 2.5% of the current membership — to stand for leadership.
However, incumbents would be exempt from needing to pass the 1,500 signature threshold, effectively giving them a significant advantage.
The proposed change comes after a veteran SNP activist threatened to stand for the party’s leadership against John Swinney.
Graeme McCormick said he had secured enough nominations to trigger a contest but was persuaded to withdraw following a ‘lengthy and fruitful conversation’ with Mr Swinney.
The changes will likely be debated at the party’s next conference.