SNP membership has fallen to its lowest in a decade after 65,000 supporters left the party, the post on Sunday can reveal.
In a hammer blow to Prime Minister John Swinney before next year's Holyrood elections, internal documents suggest membership will fall for the first time since the referendum at around 60,000.
That figure is more than 65,000 short of the 125,000-strong membership the SNP boasted in 2019, a fall of more than half.
It is also more than 30,000 fewer than at the end of 2014 when it had just over 93,000 members.
The party has lost supporters since the final days of Nicola Sturgeon's leadership, which was marred by strife and controversy.
It also remains at the center of a police fraud probe that led to former CEO Peter Murrell being charged with embezzlement and banned from selling real estate through Crime Unit proceeds.
And in yet more evidence of the chaos and unrest at the top of the SNP, the MOS can reveal:
- The party faced its 'third deficit on the trot' in 2023, but the accounts showed a surplus of £660,000 as its headquarters raided Bildersvakvakbureaus for cash.
- It spent less than half its usual budget to run its Westminster election campaign amid concerns about its financial health.
- Industries will receive less money this year as the party attempts to build a Holyrood 2026 War-Chest.
- From next month, MSPs will pay more from their salaries into the centralized party coffers.
- MPs face the same hike as seat losses at the general election mean the SNP is out of pocket with more than £100,000 in parliamentary levies.
Membership peaked in 2019 but declined in the later years of Nicola Sturgeon's leadership.
Prime Minister John Swinney has tried to stabilize members' bloodshed.
A secret financial report written by treasurer Stuart McDonald and obtained by this newspaper painted a grim picture of a party struggling to survive.
The SNP's “main challenge”, Mr McDonald claimed, was falling membership levels.
The former MP said: “Since peak numbers in 2018/2019, membership numbers have approximately halved. Membership revenue in 2023 fell by almost 25 percent compared to peak offerings in 2015, and it has continued to decline in 2024. '
He added: 'Colleagues will remember our published membership on June 1 this year [2024] was 64,525 and this trend – both in terms of numbers and revenues – has continued into the second half of the year. '
With losses of more than 4,000 members per year since 2023, a continuation of that trend means the party is likely to have just 60,000 paid backers this year.
Mr McDonald also admitted that the 2023 accounts only returned a surplus of £660,000 because head office took money from branches to keep the party in the black, otherwise 'that would have been our third deficit on the trot, albeit a small one'.
He continued: 'A smaller membership has a knock-on impact on other funding streams such as donations and fundraising.'
The Post on Sunday told how the head office has already had to make huge cuts to staff in a bid to save hundreds of thousands of pounds.
We can reveal today that nationalist MSPs will make extra payments into the party coffers from February, amounting to £3,900 or 4.3 per cent of their salary – 'whichever is higher', the document said.
MPs face the same hike as fewer SNP returns at the polls in July mean the party is out of pocket with 'more than £100,000' it used to earn in parliamentary levies.
The Nationalists have already lost around £1 million in public funds – known as short money – from the Westminster authorities following their heavy general election defeat which saw MP numbers reduced from 48 in 2019 to nine.
Speculation swirled in the run-up to the vote that the party was struggling to finance its campaign – concerns about Swinney sacked.
Yet the report shows that the SNP spent less than half of its usual budget on the UK general election years of 2017 and 2019 last year.
In 2017 they spent £1,538,464 and in 2019 they spent £1,557,871, but in 2024 they spent £746,771.
The party has said it will also reduce the amount going to branches from total membership revenue from 25 percent to 15 percent to save money.
Mr McDonald wrote: 'The branch dividend system has been very important to branches since its introduction – but it is considerably easier to operate when funds are plentiful than when times are more challenging for the party at heart.
“Membership income is the only stable and regular form of income, as well as the largest.
“When that drops, allocating 25 percent of it to branches could become a significant undertaking.
“With no elections scheduled for 2025, I believe it is prudent to reduce that to 15 percent for a period while we ensure the party's finances are in the best possible shape for 2026.”
An SNP spokesperson said: 'The SNP is the largest political party in Scotland, with 64,525 members as of June 2024 – a membership larger than all other parties combined.
“As the only political party in Scotland to regularly release its membership figures, we will do so again in due course.”
