Fergus Ewing would have won the SNP candidate selection contest for Inverness and Nairn if he had stood, party figures have said.
The veteran Nationalist announced on Friday that he would stand as an independent at next year’s Holyrood election.
Ewing will go up against current Highlands and Islands MSP Emma Roddick – who won the SNP contest.
He has been the MSP for Inverness and Nairn since the Scottish Parliament returned in 1999 and was a minister for 14 years under Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon.
A Holyrood SNP source said: “If Fergus stood for the SNP in Inverness and Nairn he’d have won the selection contest by a landslide.”
A second insider said: “It’s well known Emma put all her focus into her plans to challenge Fergus, while Fergus used his platform to give a voice to his constituents so fair play to him for giving folk in Inverness a proper option.
“There was a lot of talk about whether Fergus should pass SNP vetting and perhaps there should have been more of a focus on the suitability of the current SNP candidate for Inverness.”
A third source also said that Ewing would have won the selection contest.
Ewing has been a vocal critic of the Scottish Government and was particularly damning about the coalition agreement with the Greens.
He spoke out against the deposit return scheme, gender reform, marine protected areas and what he said was a lack of support for the oil and gas industry.
He defied the party whip to back a vote of no confidence in then-Green minister Lorna Slater in 2023. This resulted in him being temporarily suspended from the SNP Holyrood group.
Ewing had confirmed in March that he would not stand for the SNP – blaming the Scottish Government’s failure to dual the A9 and A96 roads.
On Friday he said he would stand against the SNP next year: “This has not been an easy decision. I have taken it because I love the people of Inverness and Nairn and the people of Scotland more than my party, which I have been in for more than half a century.”
He said the Nationalists had “deserted many of the people whose causes we used to champion”.
He added: “I believe the SNP has lost its way and that devolution itself – presently – is letting Scotland’s people down. It doesn’t need to be this way.
“Holyrood is more fractious and tribal than ever before.
“Too much power rests unchecked in the hands of party leaders, free to choose candidates who will slavishly support them, rather than stand up for the people who sent them to Holyrood. Choosing the pliant over the talented.”
Fergus Ewing is the son of SNP legend Winnie Ewing, whose win in the 1967 Hamilton by-election was a historic breakthrough for the party.
His sister Annabelle Ewing is the SNP MSP for Cowdenbeath.
Labour candidate for Inverness and Nairn Shaun Fraser said: “Fergus has rightfully earned respect for calling out the failures of SNP government and the policies and priorities which have done so much damage to the Highlands and Islands.
“The breakdown in his relationship with his party highlights again that the SNP has no concern for the Highlands.”
Roddick said: “Local members backed me overwhelmingly in the selection contest for Inverness and Nairn.
“I have always stood up for the Highlands and spoken out on issues that affect all of us who live here; I’ve never been shy about doing so.
“I am SNP because I share our principles and belief in Scotland – that, as an independent country, we can best serve the people I represent and work hard for every day.
“That’s why I have the backing of the local party, and I look forward to putting our positive vision across during the campaign.”
