Formation The Alliance to Liberate Scotland emerged in 2025 as part of a broader initiative to unite smaller pro-independence organisations under a common electoral platform. The initiative was linked to the Liberate Scotland campaign, which sought to coordinate activists and smaller political parties in the independence movement. Supporters of the initiative argued that cooperation between smaller independence groups could help increase representation for pro-independence candidates and provide an alternative political platform to the larger independence parties already represented in the Scottish Parliament. In February 2026, the Alliance to Liberate Scotland was registered as a political party with the Electoral Commission. The alliance announced plans to stand candidates in the 2026 Scottish Parliament election, working alongside other pro-independence organisations including the Independence for Scotland Party and Sovereignty.
Defections from Alba On 12 March 2026, several prominent pro-independence figures announced their defections from the
Alba Party after it was announced that the party would deregister following a
financial and leadership crisis. Some of the candidates who intended to stand as Alba candidates announced they would stand for ATLS, including former
Solidarity leader
Tommy Sheridan and his wife Gail Sheridan, both of whom defected from Alba, and former British diplomat
Craig Murray, who left
Your Party to stand as the ATLS candidate in Edinburgh Central against SNP incumbent
Angus Robertson. The developments quickly triggered internal tensions within the new party. Allan Petrie, a founding member of ATLS and its press officer who had been expected to stand in Dundee City East, resigned in protest at Murray’s selection, criticising what he described as political opportunism and citing disagreements over Murray’s stance on gender recognition. Petrie stated the party had become “the same old party politics we set out to challenge”. Murray rejected the criticism, arguing that standing for ATLS was unlikely to advance a political career but would provide a platform to argue for Scottish independence, and said debates on issues such as gender recognition should take place after independence had been achieved.
Withdrawal of the ISP On 15 March 2026, further tensions emerged when the Independence for Scotland Party announced it would withdraw from the Alliance to Liberate Scotland and contest elections under its own name. In a statement, the party said the alliance had originally been formed on the basis of unity, mutual respect and democratic decision-making among participating groups, but claimed that after ATLS formally registered as a political party earlier in 2026, decisions on candidate selection and electoral strategy were increasingly being taken without consultation with other stakeholders. The party’s executive stated that the breakdown in trust and concerns about internal democracy had led its candidates to withdraw unanimously from the alliance and stand independently. In response, the Alliance to Liberate Scotland rejected these assertions. ATLS clarified that it had not been involved in the vetting or selection of candidates for either the ISP or the Sovereignty party, as those processes remained the exclusive prerogative of each respective party. ATLS further stated that at no time were any decisions on electoral strategy taken without consultation with ISP and other relevant stakeholders ==Policies==