The SNP supports and campaigns for Scottish independence from the United Kingdom and for Scotland's membership in the European Union,[13][27][28] with a platform based on progressive social policies and civic nationalism.

Professor Douglas Young, who was SNP leader from 1942 to 1945, campaigned for the Scottish people to refuse conscription and his activities were popularly vilified as undermining the British war effort against the Axis powers.

However, wartime conditions also enabled the SNP's first parliamentary success at the Motherwell by-election in 1945, but Robert McIntyre MP lost the seat at the general election three months later.

[36][failed verification] The SNP gained six seats at the February general election before hitting a high point in the October re-run, polling almost a third of all votes in Scotland and returning 11 MPs to Westminster.

[citation needed] This success was to continue for much of the decade, and at the 1977 district elections the SNP saw victories at councils including East Kilbride and Falkirk and held the balance of power in Glasgow.

Despite this, traditionalist figure Gordon Wilson remained party leader through the electoral disappointments of 1983 and 1987, where he lost his own Dundee East seat won 13 years prior.

Through this period, Sillars' influence in the party grew, developing a clear socio-economic platform including Independence in Europe, reversing the SNP's previous opposition to membership of the then-EEC which had been unsuccessful in a 1975 referendum.

[43][failed verification] Alex Salmond had been elected MP for Banff and Buchan in 1987, after the re-admittance of 79 Group members, and was able to seize the party leadership after Wilson's resignation in 1990 after a contest with Margaret Ewing.

By 1999, the first elections to the parliament were being held, although the party suffered a disappointing result, gaining just 35 MSPs in the face of Salmond's unpopular 'Kosovo Broadcast' which opposed NATO intervention in the country.

[47] Swinney's leadership proved ineffectual, with a loss of one MP in 2001 and a further reduction to 27 MSPs in 2003 despite the Officegate scandal unseating previous First Minister Henry McLeish.

[60] Exit polling by Lord Ashcroft suggested that many No voters thought independence too risky,[61] while others voted for the Union because of their emotional attachment to Britain.

This victory was generally attributed to Sturgeon's cautious approach regarding holding a second independence referendum and a strong emphasis on retaining EU membership during the election campaign.

[73] In the 2022 Scottish local elections, the SNP remained as the biggest party, winning a record number of councillors and securing majority control of Dundee.

On 18 April, his government published its policy prospectus titled "Equality, opportunity, community: New leadership – A fresh start"[82] On 23 August 2023, Murray Foote was appointed as the new Chief Executive of the SNP.

[83] On 12 October 2023, MP Lisa Cameron crossed the floor to join the Scottish Conservatives, ahead of counting the votes on her selection contest within the SNP for the 2024 United Kingdom general election.

[98] Also in April, it was reported that the SNP's auditors, Johnston Carmichael, had resigned from their role around October 2022, and were yet to be replaced, three months before the party's accounts 2022 were due to be submitted to the Electoral Commission.

A Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service spokesman confirmed that it received a report in relation to Murrell and that an investigation into two other individuals "a man aged 72 and a 53-year-old woman" were still ongoing.

An anonymous complaint was sent to Alison Johnstone in which an individual claimed that stamps bought with expenses were given to Westminster election candidates for mailing leaflets.

[110] In November 2024, the SNP announced a plan to reduce permanent paid staff at its headquarters from twenty-six to sixteen, a reduction of more than a third, in order to "protect the long-term finances of the party" before the next Scottish Parliament election.

The pressure on the SNP's finances was attributed to a reduction in Short Money they receive following the 2024 general election, along with an increased reliance on membership fees over substantial donations.

[121] Debate within the party focused more on the SNP being distinct as an all-Scotland national movement, with it being neither of the left nor the right, but constituting a new politics that sought to put Scotland first.

[127] The 1964 policy document, SNP & You, contained a clear centre-left policy platform, including commitments to full employment, government intervention in fuel, power and transport, a state bank to guide economic development, encouragement of cooperatives and credit unions, extensive building of council houses (social housing) by central and local government, pensions adjusted to cost of living, a minimum wage and an improved national health service.

[150][151][152] In January 2021, a former trans officer in the SNP's LGBT wing, Teddy Hope, quit the party, describing it was one of the "core hubs of transphobia in Scotland".

[153] Large numbers of LGBT activists followed suit and Sturgeon released a video message in which she said that transphobia is "not acceptable" and that she hoped they would one day rejoin the party.

[162] More generally, the SNP seeks to increase immigration to combat a declining population[163] and calling for a separate Scottish visa even within the UK.

[169] The party has placed an emphasis on developing positive relations with the United States in recent years[170] despite a lukewarm reaction to the election of part-Scottish American Donald Trump as President due to long running legal disputes.

[175] The SNP has also taken a stance against Russian interference abroad – the party supporting the enlargement of the EU and NATO to areas such as the Western Balkans and Ukraine to counter this influence.

[176][177] The party called for repercussions for Russia regarding the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal[178] and has criticised former leader Alex Salmond for broadcasting a chat show on Kremlin-backed[179] network RT.

[201] When the review found that the "visionary ideals" of Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) had not fully succeeded, they announced a series of educational reforms and the scrapping of the Scottish Qualifications Authority.

Although the Sustainable Growth Commission's report, published in 2018, divides opinion it contains the party's official economic recommendations in the event of independence.