SNP recruits Connery for election campaign

Scottish National Party (SNP) supporter Sean Connery is to appear in at least one of its three broadcasts in the run up to the Scottish parliamentary elections on May 6.

The broadcasts – one of which was made by film director David Hayman – will be screened from April 13 onwards.

Connery donates 40,000 a year to the SNP and has appeared in previous broadcasts for the party, sometimes attracting hostility from activists annoyed by the celebrity “luvvie factor”. The Government’s refusal last year to grant Connery a knighthood – which was blamed on his nationalist sympathies – annoyed Scottish voters. However, Labour is ahead in the polls as the Holyrood election approaches.

The SNP was this week the first party to launch its election campaign. It is based on a ten-point pledge and its “Penny for Scotland” policy. The party plans to reverse Chancellor Gordon Brown’s recent 1p tax cut if it gains power.

The SNP, which does not employ an advertising agency, has distributed 2.2 million Penny for Scotland leaflets and pledge cards through newspaper inserts and door-drops.

The Scottish Labour Party employs The Union agency, while the Conservatives use Yellow M Scotland.