Action for Independence (AFI) was a political party in Scotland. It was set up in July 2020 by former

Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party (SNP; sco, Scots National Pairty, gd, Pàrtaidh Nàiseanta na h-Alba ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic political party in Scotland. The SNP supports and campaigns for Scottish independence from ...

(SNP)

Member of the Scottish Parliament Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP; gd, Ball Pàrlamaid na h-Alba, BPA; sco, Memmer o the Scots Pairliament, MSP) is the title given to any one of the 129 individuals elected to serve in the Scottish Parliament. Electoral system The ad ...

(MSP) Dave Thompson to compete at the

2021 Scottish Parliament election The 2021 Scottish Parliament election took place on 6 May 2021, under the provisions of the Scotland Act 1998. All 129 Members of the Scottish Parliament were elected in the sixth election since the parliament was re-established in 1999. The ele ...

. Founded as Alliance for Independence, the party's name was rejected by the Electoral Commission on the grounds that it was not an alliance of existing political parties. In February 2021, the commission approved the party's registration under its new name. At the 2021 Scottish Parliament election, the AFI intended to stand on the regional list only, whilst encouraging voters to vote SNP in the constituency list. On 25 March 2021, former convener of the Scottish Socialist Party and current convener of

Solidarity ''Solidarity'' is an awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological sense of unity of groups or classes. It is based on class collaboration.''Merriam Webster'', http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictio ...

, Tommy Sheridan, announced that he would be standing for the party. Other candidates announced included former SNP MSP

John Wilson John Wilson may refer to: Academics * John Wilson (mathematician) (1741–1793), English mathematician and judge * John Wilson (historian) (1799–1870), author of ''Our Israelitish Origin'' (1840), a founding text of British Israelism * John Wil ...

, former Labour MEP Hugh Kerr and former British Ambassador to Uzbekistan, Craig Murray. The following day, however, following former First Minister of Scotland, Alex Salmond's announcement that had joined the Alba Party and his intention to stand for election, the AFI's National Executive announced that they would be standing down all 42 candidates and would support Alba candidates. AFI was voluntarily deregistered on 14 April 2021.

References

{{Nationalism in the United Kingdom 2020 establishments in Scotland Scottish nationalist parties Political parties established in 2020 Politics of Scotland Scottish independence