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.
Watch now for insights on the SNP's future, Nicola Sturgeon, and what’s next for Lochhead.
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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.