There was a Scottish National Party leadership election to choose the new leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) in 1990. The election followed the announcement by SNP Leader Gordon Wilson, that he would not seek re-nomination as party leader.Girvan McKay, ''The Lion and the Saltire'', p.78 Two candidates presented themselves for election.

Alex Salmond Alexander Elliot Anderson Salmond (; born 31 December 1954) is a Scottish politician and economist who served as First Minister of Scotland from 2007 to 2014. A prominent figure on the Scottish nationalist movement, he has served as leader ...

, the party's depute leader and Member of Parliament for

Banff and Buchan Banff and Buchan is a committee area of the Aberdeenshire Council, Scotland. It has a population of 35,742 (2001 Census). Fishing and agriculture are important industries, together with associated processing and service activity. Banff and Bucha ...

, and

Margaret Ewing Margaret Anne Ewing (''née'' McAdam, formerly Bain; 1 September 1945 – 21 March 2006) was a Scottish teacher, journalist and politician. She served as a Scottish National Party (SNP) Member of Parliament for East Dunbartonshire from 1974 t ...

, MP for Moray, who had served as depute leader until 1987. Both candidates were seen as being on the left-wing of the party.

Jim Sillars James Sillars (born 4 October 1937) is a Scottish politician and campaigner for Scottish independence. Sillars served as a Labour Party MP for South Ayrshire from 1970 to 1976. He founded and led the pro- Scottish Home Rule Scottish Labour Par ...

, the party's other Westminster MP, supported Ewing. Although Ewing's official campaign remained positive, Silllars created an unofficial group of Ewing supporters who were highly critical of Salmond.Peter Lynch, ''SNP: The History of the Scottish National Party'', p.145 The result of the election was announced at the party conference, held in

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...

on 22 September. Salmond won the election by 486 votes to 186, a larger-than-expected margin.

References

{{SNP

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of humanity on Earth, astrophysicist ...

1990 in British politics 1990 in Scotland 1990s elections in Scotland 1990 elections in the United Kingdom Scottish National Party leadership election