12 Facts About Ash Regan

On 28 October 2023, Ash Regan announced her defection from the SNP to the Alba Party and was appointed the party's parliamentary leader.

Sarah Jane Ash Regan was born in Biggar, South Lanarkshire, on 8 March 1974.

When she was fifteen years old, Regan changed her birth forename in a deed poll to Ashten, to avoid confusion with another girl in her school who shared the same name.

In 2007, Ash Regan studied Development Management at the Open University, gaining a Master of Science in 2012.

From December 2002 to August 2003, Ash Regan was an Account Manager for Rocket PR.

At a dinner party in 2012, Ash Regan was asked by guests for her opinion on the 2014 Scottish independence vote.

In June 2016, Ash Regan was appointed as Parliamentary Liaison Officer to the Cabinet Secretary for Culture, Tourism and External Affairs.

On 27 October 2022 Ash Regan resigned, citing concerns over the Scottish Government's support for the Gender Recognition Reform Bill.

On 18 February 2023, Ash Regan declared her candidacy in the 2023 SNP leadership election, following the resignation of Nicola Sturgeon.

The Herald reported that Ash Regan, who joined the SNP in 2014, seven and a half years after the SNP were first elected to government, "claimed that her old party had been hollowed out by careerists whose views did not align with the core beliefs of the SNP".

On 9 January 2025, Ash Regan announced her candidacy for the 2025 Alba Party leadership election.

On independence, Ash Regan said that instead of Sturgeon's proposal to use the next Scottish Parliament or House of Commons election as a de facto referendum on Scottish independence, she would begin negotiations with the UK government on independence the next time political parties supporting Scottish independence received more than half of the vote collectively in an election to either parliament.