Angus Robertson has issued a rallying cry to SNP members pledging there will be a second referendum on Scottish independence.
The SNP’s depute leader, who lost his Moray seat in June’s snap general election, said the party was committed to delivering an independent Scotland “as soon as we can”.
But he failed to set out a timescale for a second vote during the SNP’s conference in Glasgow and warned the party had to adapt if it wanted to continue to win elections.
Mr Robertson acknowledged the disappointment of losing 21 Westminster seats, including his own, but pointed out the SNP “still won a majority of MPs in Scotland, something that neither the Tories nor the Labour party could do across the UK”.
He added: “All of us, whether we were returned and those of us who were not, are committed to delivering Scottish independence as soon as we can because we have to save Scotland from this damaging hard Brexit approach of Theresa May and her dysfunctional government.
“However understandable it is to have an ambition that we should not change a winning approach, we cannot simply rerun past campaigns and expect the same outcomes.
“And I think we have to reflect on the fact that for the first time in a decade we do not face an imminent election. The next scheduled parliamentary polls will take place across Scotland in 2021 and this gives the SNP an unprecedented opportunity to involve our mass membership, to reach out to voters, to build our identified support, to raise campaign funds.”
He said with support for independence higher among younger voters, the party should be targeting a “new generation” of “natural SNP voters and potential new members”.
“We need to get out there and we need to work,” he told delegates.
“Can I appeal to each and every one of you at this conference those here those watching at home who are SNP members please go back to you branches and constituencies and map out an organisational plan for the next years.
“Because … there are 1,300 and some days until the next Scottish Parliamentary election and there will also be a referendum on Scottish independence.”
