BBC Scotland – Scotcast · podcast
23 February 2026
Kirk Torrance joined Martin Geissler on BBC Scotcast on 23 February 2026 to discuss Alba Party’s difficulties and the strategic landscape for the 2026 Holyrood election. The extended TV edition, ‘Scotcast – Alba Party’, was first broadcast on BBC Scotland that evening. The themes are explored at length in the article The Most Devastating Own Goal in Scottish Political History Is About to Happen Again.
No longer available on BBC iPlayer.
About
Strategic adviser, technologist, and dealmaker. Two decades operating at the intersection of government, technology, media, and capital markets across four continents.
Technologist behind two successive Scottish First Ministers, pioneering the use of digital and social media in UK and European political campaigning. Helped deliver the first outright majority in the Scottish Parliament in 2011, the SNP's third consecutive Holyrood government in 2016, and played a central role in the campaign that delivered Scotland’s 62% Remain vote in the 2016 EU referendum.
Beyond politics, facilitated c.£500m in acquisition discussions for a Chinese consortium targeting UK media assets and advised on the £30–40m attempted acquisition of Johnston Press Scottish titles. He now works with a small number of clients on sensitive political, transactional, and strategic matters – alongside building technology platforms through Industrial Capital.
Founder and principal of Industrial Strategic.