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Fergus Ewing says the SNP ‘lost trust in the Highlands of many people’ as he reveals he will stand as an independent who ‘will never backtrack or U turn





MSP Fergus Ewing vows to see the dualling through saying ‘I will never backtrack or U-turn’.
MSP Fergus Ewing vows to see the dualling through saying ‘I will never backtrack or U-turn’.

Fergus Ewing’s message to the people of Strathspey is that he pledges to “get the job done and force the next government to deliver” on dualling the A9 and A96.

That is if he is re-elected as an independent candidate at the 2026 Scottish Parliament elections after he refused to stand for the SNP over the party’s broken promises.

The veteran MSP announced today that he would be running on the basis of “unfinished business” after months of speculation about his future.

One central issue of his campaign is the twin dualling projects of the A9 and A96.

On the A9 he has been left unhappy that the most dangerous sections are not going to be prioritised but at least there is a deadline.

But the A96 is currently so far in the long grass it only remains visible because of the work of campaigners like Mr Ewing and local media who continue to raise the issue.

He said: “I pledge, if re-elected, to continue to press, harry and campaign at every opportunity to see the two vital roads projects through. I will continue to work with the other main parties on this task.”

He also expressed his exasperation that Strathspey will no longer form part of the constituency.

He said: “To remove Strathspey from the Inverness and Nairn seat and place it along with Lochaber and Skye makes no sense at all. To place Grantown on Spey in the same constituency as UIG in Skye seems to most people here utter folly.”

Read Fergus Ewing’s full statement to readers of the Strathy:

“To Strathy readers I wish to say how sad it is to see that yet again the Boundary Commissioners have cut up the Highlands and changed the boundaries of Inverness and Nairn.

“To remove Strathspey from the Inverness and Nairn seat and place it along with Lochaber and Skye makes no sense at all. To place Grantown on Spey in the same constituency as UIG in Skye seems to most people here utter folly.

“Once again the Commissioners have preferred the central belt with tiny constituencies by area, and many with similar numbers of voters to the gigantic Highland seats.

“I have announced my intention to stand again as a candidate for the Holyrood elections in 2026 . I will do so as an independent candidate and an independent voice for Inverness and Nairn.

“The main reason for my decision, taken after long thought and consultation, is that the party I have served for nearly half a century has let down the people badly by failing to deliver on their long standing promises to dual the A9 and the A96.

“They have lost trust in the Highlands of many people.

“These Government official pledges were first made in 2011 and I was then delighted with that decision, driven forward by the late Alex Salmond and his transport secretary, Alex Neil.

“However, the changing of the SNP guard, saw their eye come off the ball - and dithering delay and indecision became the order of the day.

“I am determined to see the job done. To force the next government to deliver on the A9 and the Nairn Bypass. I will work with the other main parties.

“I will never backtrack or U turn or call for a ‘review’ as the SNP government did with the A96 when they entered the fatal agreement with the Green Party in the Bute House Agreement. That review after nearly four years, has still not been completed.

“This for me is unfinished business. It has been my honour to serve the people for a quarter of a century. I hope by speaking up for the Highlands as a truly Independent voice to see the job done.

“I have issued a fuller statement in which I set out my hopes for Scotland and our Parliament.

“Let the people decide.”


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