There was a leadership election for the
Scottish National Party (SNP) held in 1967.
Arthur Donaldson easily retained the leadership of the party.
Arthur Donaldson had been leader of the SNP since 1960, during which time the party had increased its membership, and won a seat in Parliament. However,
Douglas Drysdale, the party's Vice Chairman (Finance) had become increasingly critical of Donaldson's leadership and stood against him at the party conference.
[Girvan McKay, ''The Lion and the Saltire: A Brief History of the Scottish National Party'', p.50] Drysdale was regarded as talented, but was little-known among the party's grassroots.
William Wolfe
William Cuthbertson Wolfe (22 February 1924 – 18 March 2010) was a Scottish accountant, manufacturer and Scottish National Party (SNP) politician. He was the National Convenor (leader) of the SNP from 1969 to 1979, playing a central role in ...
, ''Scotland Lives'', pp.98-99
The 1967 conference was much larger than previous events, and many attendees were new to politics and to the SNP. However, they were familiar with Donaldson, who also wrote regularly for the ''
Scots Independent
''The Scots Independent'' is a monthly Scottish political newspaper that is in favour of Scottish independence. It was formed in 1926 with William Gillies as editor, by the Scots National League (SNL) and switched its allegiance to the Nationa ...
'' newspaper, and chaired the conference.
Donaldson won the election in a landslide, with 362 votes to Drysdale's 37.
Donaldson decided to stand down two years later, triggering the
1969 Scottish National Party leadership election.
References
{{SNP
1967
Events
January
* January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair.
* January 5
** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...
Scottish National Party leadership election
Scottish National Party leadership election
1960s elections in Scotland
Scottish National Party leadership election
Scottish National Party leadership election