An opinion column argues that John Swinney faces pressure from a new SNP faction, called “Independence”, to put the campaign for Scottish independence ahead of winning elections. The group says the party has spent the past decade neglecting the case for secession and warns it will oppose efforts to sideline that goal, creating a challenge for Swinney ahead of the party’s conference.

The writer compares the dispute with Swinney’s first period as SNP leader, from 2000 to 2004, when gradualists and activists demanding immediate action clashed over strategy. Swinney resigned after a poor result in the 2004 European Parliament election, and Alex Salmond later restored party discipline and prioritised electoral success; the column says that approach helped lead to SNP victories in 2007 and 2011 and the 2014 independence referendum. The supplied article text ends mid-sentence, so it does not include the column’s full account of the new faction’s position.