Richard Lochhead on Scottish Independence, Trump & Life After SNP Politics

Highland News & Media

Moray MSP Richard Lochhead reflects on 25 years in Scottish politics in this exclusive interview. He discusses the future of Scottish independence, his views on Donald Trump, gender-based politics, and why he’s not standing in the 2026 Scottish Parliament election.   Watch now for insights on the SNP's future, Nicola Sturgeon, and what’s next for Lochhead.

Transcript

00:00I think there is a good chance that Scotland will get independence in my lifetime.

00:02Obviously I'm getting on a bit but I am absolutely confident Scotland one day will be independent.

00:09I'm Richard Walkhead. I'm the member of the Scottish Parliament for Moray.

00:12I have announced that I will not be contesting the 2026 elections

00:17and today I'm very much looking forward to answering your 15 questions.

00:24Ben asks what has been the highlight of your political career?

00:28That's a very good question. There's been lots of highlights. Firstly of course I've actually

00:33been in Parliament since 1999. I was a regional member before winning the constituency of Moray

00:38in 2006. So just being there for the very first time when the Parliament was reconvened in 1999

00:44of course was the highlights of my political career perhaps and no doubt one of the highlights

00:50of my life. Sarah asks looking back on your time in politics is there anything that you wish you

00:55had done differently? I wish I wasn't quite as cautious with some issues. Some policies I

01:01introduced as part of the government you think I should have just done that a bit quicker or done

01:05earlier but of course you have to make sure all your ducks in a row before you take forward a

01:09policy sometimes can be a little radical. So sometimes I reflect the fact that in politics

01:16we should be a lot more bolder at times. Tom asks what are your plans for after you step down?

01:22Well I've still got a year to go before I retire from frontline politics. You know being an MSP

01:29representing the beautiful constituency of Moray and the great people that live here has been

01:33the honour of my life but by the time of 2026 I'll have been an MSP for 27 years and I think it's

01:39time while I'm still young enough to perhaps seek out different challenges and see what the future

01:44holds. David asks do you feel like your constituency got good value for money with its years of failure

01:51and the local council on the verge of bankruptcy? The past few years have been very tough financially

02:00for all levels of government, for the Scottish government but also for the Moray council. We've

02:04had 15 years of austerity from the UK government. When I came into government in 2007 in Scotland

02:10we had the bank crash about a year later and that led to all kinds of emergency financial measures

02:17and problems for the Scottish budgets. Since then of course we've had Brexit in 2016 which

02:23came into effect a few years later and then we had the pandemic which of course was hugely

02:28disruptive for people's lives but also for public finances as well. But I think it's fair to say

02:33there's been a tough time for all local authorities and central government as well and sometimes you

02:38just have to recognise that. I absolutely understand of course that some of the big rises we've seen

02:42just recently for local councillors and the council leader in Moray have raised a few eyebrows

02:48given some of the financial pressures for elected representatives at council level or indeed for

02:53for MSPs and MPs in Westminster is that they're set and recommended independently from politicians

03:00but our councillors do work very hard for not a great pay and if we want to attract people

03:06into local government to have better local services and better local leadership we need

03:10to attract good people. Charlie asks why did you not speak out more about the dualling of the A9 and A96?

03:18Well ever since I was first elected for Moray I've campaigned for the dualling of the A96 and of

03:24course the A9 is very important for Moray as well and there's been a campaign for dualling the A9

03:30also. It is good news that the Nairn part of the dualling process is about to get underway soon.

03:35Bruce asks do you have an opinion on the desecration of rural Scotland overriding

03:41community input on substations, overhead lines and endless BESS sites?

03:48I am concerned about the rolling out of infrastructure to make sure that we can

03:54meet the most of Scotland's renewables potential and what I'm concerned about is to ensure that

03:58public's views are taken on board and the public see the benefits of this directly in terms of

04:03lower energy bills. We of course also want the building of the infrastructure whether it's

04:08pylons or substations to be sensitive to local landscapes and you know we've got a beautiful

04:13area here in Moray and throughout the Highlands and Islands but of course that's where much of

04:17the renewable energy is so a lot of the infrastructure is going to have to be built

04:20in the Highlands and Islands and so on. Carol asks do you ever regret that you never managed

04:28to get Westminster to look into our extortionate delivery charges? I've been enormously frustrated

04:35by the fact that we've failed to persuade the politicians in London to look at these astronomical

04:41and nonsensical parcel delivery surcharges. It doesn't seem properly regulated but the UK

04:47government I think one of the issues of course is the politicians in London perhaps think that

04:50doesn't affect them directly so it's not their priority to deal with this. Craig asks what's

04:56your favourite sandwich filling? What's my favourite sandwich filling? Well that's an

05:02unusual question let me think about that. I think my usual go-to is tuna. I love seafood

05:09and I love a good tuna sandwich and quite often I'm travelling up and down

05:13from Edinburgh I stop off to get coffee and a tuna sandwich. Mel asks do you think Donald

05:19Trump should be invited to the UK? Well I think what we're seeing with the election of Donald

05:27Trump is very very concerning and anyone who's been watching their TV screens and what's been

05:34happening over the last few weeks will be appalled in many ways. If America is not going to be an ally

05:41of Europe like it has been since World War II and before that then clearly we've got a big problem.

05:49But is he or is he not an ally of Europe before we invite him to come and visit for a state visit?

05:54However he is the elected president of the USA and you know the US is our biggest export market,

05:59it's also our biggest inward investor and it's our biggest tourism market as well.

06:04So we have to recognise that Donald Trump is the elected president of the United States of America.

06:09John asks do you think Nicola Sturgeon's focus upon identity politics has damaged the cause of

06:16independence because it made the Scottish government appear out of touch with the people's priorities?

06:23Well I know many people are concerned about the amount of airtime that you know some

06:29equality issues get but they're very important issues and I think what's been really concerning

06:36just in the last few years in particular is how issues around equality issues like transgender

06:42or gender-based politics or gender-based policies I should say is that they get weaponised and some

06:50political parties or politicians they twist things and they run with this because it's a popular

06:56thing to do. But you know if any of us are the transgender child for instance we may take a

07:03different view of that but I think it's really important that you know we've got a very diverse

07:06society and you know the parliaments have to represent everyone. There are of course a lot

07:11of genuine concerns and perhaps as politicians we've not always listened carefully enough to

07:16the genuine concerns that people have expressed and you know we have to learn lessons from that.

07:22Ali asks do you think Scotland will get independence in your lifetime?

07:27I think there is a good chance that Scotland will get independence in my lifetime. Obviously I'm

07:31getting on a bit but I am absolutely confident Scotland one day will be independent. We've come

07:37on leaps and bounds just over a few decades and in the history of time a few decades is nothing

07:42really. So I think maybe history's on our side and the generational change particularly young

07:47people are more likely to support independence than not by quite significant margin. So I'm

07:52confident we're going the right direction here and of course we've seen ourselves dragged out

07:56the European Union against our wishes because the rest of the UK voted for that but we didn't.

08:01So there's democratic issues there as well. I'm confident Scotland will be an independent nation and

08:05will join our colleagues from across the world. Chris asks has your perception on life changed

08:12since your near-death experience and has this affected your political viewpoints?

08:18Well yeah I was obviously ill in 2024 and I took it on May 2024 and it was quite serious. I had

08:28emergency open heart surgery and I had sepsis so I was in hospital for six weeks. Thankfully I'm

08:34recovered and getting on with life now. Your perspective does change when you recognise firstly

08:40how lucky we are to have the NHS. As an MSP I deal with NHS cases all the time but there I was lying

08:46in my bed in the hospital and the NHS was looking after me and I was observing everything and

08:50watching all this and it's incredible. Dozens of people looking after me. It also makes you realise

08:55anything could happen tomorrow and we all have to live our lives to the full and enjoy ourselves,

08:58take the right decisions we think will make us happy. Jordan asks how do you think the changing

09:04of leadership has affected the SNP party? For many years of course the SNP had stable leadership

09:13and I always thought well look what's happening to other political parties. You know we're very

09:16lucky in the SNP but then of course we've had two or three First Ministers over the last two or three

09:20years now so things have been a bit more turbulent in the SNP. The party grew enormously after 2014

09:27in the independence referendum. Then we of course had different administrations, different leadership

09:34so I think we're a lot more stable now. I think John Swinney has certainly

09:38steadied the ship. We had a very tough UK election a few months ago. Since then we've

09:44seen the SNP go up again in the opinion polls so I think we're in a good place now. Steve asks

09:49we know that you're a keen cyclist. What would you say your favourite route is around Moray?

09:54I've got several routes that I use quite regularly. I mean I quite like just being down the coast

09:58roads from Elgin over to Birkhead and then maybe across to A96 then back up the other side back

10:04round to Elgin. You know I can fit in maybe a 30 mile trip doing that sometimes and maybe a bit more.

10:10There are some hills but not too many hills and then of course you're coming back inland as well

10:15through farmland and particularly in the summer and you know it's very picturesque. Last question

10:23what do you want your legacy to be? I had a lot of really nice messages from my constituents when I

10:29announced I wasn't going to Basani again in 2026. It was very moving and I think I just want my

10:36legacy to be that my heart was in the right place and I did my best. I work hard for people.

10:43I hope it was very approachable. I was a champion for Moray. I think that's a champion for people

10:50as well as for Moray as a whole. So I hope that's my legacy and apart from that you can see the

10:55Lossie Bridge, the new Lossie Bridge of course, which I thought was quite instrumental in getting

11:00the new bridge down at Lossie. Lots of other things across the constituency have helped influence as

11:04well over the years and secure investment for all kinds of things like the flood alleviation schemes

11:09and other areas of our life in Moray but I was particularly proud that we got the new bridge at

11:14Lossie.

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