SNP says its membership has fallen to 72,000

The SNP's membership has fallen to just over 72,000, the party has confirmed amid a row over the integrity of its leadership race.

Candidates Ash Regan and Kate Forbes had demanded to know how many members were eligible to vote in the contest to succeed Nicola Sturgeon.

The party initially refused to do so - but has now told the candidates that it has 72,186 members.

It means it has lost 32,000 members from the 104,000 it had two years ago.

The SNP's membership had hit a peak of 125,000 in 2019 as support for the party surged in the wake of the independence referendum but had fallen to 85,000 by the end of last year.

Its Westminster leader, Stephen Flynn, told BBC Scotland earlier this week he had "no idea" how many members the party had, but that "I think the last time I heard it was about 100,000".

Ms Forbes' campaign manager, Michelle Thomson MSP, said she was pleased that "common sense has prevailed" and the membership numbers had been published - but that the "alarming drop in members shows that the party needs a change in direction".

Ms Regan issued a statement that said only: "I get things done", with her campaign questioning on Twitter whether the big drop in membership - which it linked to the government's controversial gender reforms - was a reason for Ms Sturgeon's resignation.

The SNP's national secretary, Lorna Finn, wrote to the candidates earlier on Thursday in an attempt to address their concerns about transparency.

A spokesperson for the party said: "All three candidates were successful in parliamentary selection contests using exactly the same voting system and independent ballot services firm.

"The National Secretary has again confirmed all necessary safeguards are in place to protect the integrity of the ballot."

The third candidate in the contest, Health Secretary Humza Yousaf, had said he would be happy for the party to provide reassurances over the voting process, but that he was not concerned about the integrity of the vote.

Mr Yousaf is widely seen as being the favoured candidate of Ms Sturgeon and the SNP hierarchy as a whole, with Ms Regan previously claiming that the party HQ was "bussing in" his supporters to hustings events.

Ms Regan has also questioned the role of SNP chief executive Peter Murrell - Ms Sturgeon's husband - in the leadership contest, saying it was a "clear conflict of interest".

An open letter sent on behalf of Ms Regan and Ms Forbes to Mr Murrell had called on him to clarify how many "paid-up" members the party has, and the number of digital and postal voting papers that have been released.

Ms Regan has called for an independent election monitor to be appointed to ensure the vote is fair.

Speaking before the membership number was released, she said: "My concern is that the membership of the SNP and the country need to have full transparency and honesty in the process.

"So the fact that all the teams haven't been given something as simple as the number of members in the SNP is obviously a concern."

Ms Sturgeon denied her party was in crisis and said she had "100% confidence" in the process. as she left her penultimate First Minister's Questions on Thursday.

She added: "My party is having a democratic leadership election - growing pains for any organisation can be painful, but they are important.

"I think it's incumbent for the three candidates standing to succeed me that they remember the task is to retain the trust of the Scottish people that we have won consistently over, not just the eight years of my leadership, but consistently since 2007."

The leadership ballot is being managed by Southampton-based polling firm Mi-Voice, which the SNP has used for internal contests since 2013. The result is due to be announced on 27 March.