TWO SNP MPs IN COMMONS LOVE TRIANGLE
Nationalist party deputy and his health minister wife announce split after he and senior Westminster colleague had affairs with same woman
TWO married Nationalist MPs had affairs with the same younger woman and have since split from their wives.
In an extraordinary love triangle that will rock the party, deputy leader Stewart Hosie, 53, and Westminster energy committee chairman Angus MacNeil, 45, both enjoyed intense relationships with Oxford-educated journalist Serena Cowdy, 36. Mr Hosie announced on Sunday that he was separating from his wife Shona Robison, the Scottish Health Secretary and one of Nicola Sturgeon’s closest friends. Mr Hosie’s affair will send shockwaves to the top of the government, leaving First Minister Miss Sturgeon with an unfortunate personal dilemma as she works closely with both Mr Hosie and Miss Robison.
Mr MacNeil announced his separation from his long-suffering wife Jane last year, not long after his affair with Miss Cowdy ended.
Mrs MacNeil had stayed with her husband after a previous embarrassment when he was caught with two teenage girls in a hotel room while she was pregnant.
The latest scandal is expected to overshadow events at Holyrood today when Miss Sturgeon is sworn in as First Minister.
As Miss Sturgeon’s deputy, Dundee East MP Mr Hosie wields enormous power within the SNP, and is expected to play a key role in the party’s next
drive for independence. It is understood that Miss Robison only learnt of her husband’s affair when he confessed ten days ago – just hours after her victory in the Holyrood election. The couple have been married for nearly 20 years and have a young daughter.
Miss Cowdy, a freelance writer for Parliamentary magazine The House, is said to have told friends she found Nationalist MPs to be romantic revolutionaries, describing them as ‘the Mujahideen of British politicians’.
A source said: ‘This love triangle is a disgrace for Scottish politics – and gives weight to the rumours that some of the sudden mass of SNP MPs in London have been going on a big jolly.
‘These two have behaved with all the decorum of a coach party in a Carry On film arriving at a pub.
‘It’s laughable that Serena says they’re like a sexy Mujahideen. I doubt their wives think they are.’
A senior SNP source confirmed the story, but disputed a claim in Westminster that the love rivalry led to a public row between the
‘Says they’re like sexy Mujahideen’
two MPs. The insider said there was no ‘overlap’ between the MPs’ affairs with former TV wildlife expert Miss Cowdy.
When contacted, she said ‘no comment’ when asked about the affairs. The MPs and their nowestranged wives also declined to speak.
But an acquaintance of Miss Cowdy’s circle who revealed the love triangle told the Mail: ‘Serena is from London and went to Oxford, but since starting work in Parliament has never stopped going on about the SNP being like the Mujahideen. She says she can’t resist them.
‘She was having an affair with Angus MacNeil during the independence referendum campaign – and boasted that when he was on TV talking about it, she’s texted him and he’d looked at his phone.
‘He used to take her to the Park Plaza hotel in Waterloo for the night.
‘Now she’s with Stewart Hosie and has been for some time and it’s very serious. He’s helped her through difficult times in her personal life.
‘She’s suggested for a while he’s going to split from his wife and they’re going to have a proper relationship in public. Now he really has separated we’ll have to see.
‘I heard things had been difficult between Stewart and Angus because they’d both had the same girlfriend – and that there have been cross words between them.
‘Surely MPs are paid to represent their constituents – not gallivant round London having affairs with the same woman. It is even more wrong if that interferes with their working relationship.’
Rumours that there had been a ‘bust up’ between the two MPs in the Commons have been denied by the party. A source at the SNP confirmed the two MPs had enjoyed affairs with the same woman, but insisted there was no overlap between the relationships – and no tension or rows between the politicians.
The insider said: ‘The first relationship ended before the second began. Stewart and Angus have been getting on together fine, without any arguments.’
The source added that Mr Hosie only told his wife Miss Robison of his affair with Miss Cowdy ten days ago – disputing any suggestion it was kept quiet until the Holyrood elections were over, where Miss Robison retained her Dundee City East seat.
Before the election, a pro-SNP newspaper claimed that Mr Hosie had been put in charge of Miss Sturgeon’s ‘summer initiative’ on independence – which is designed to persuade No voters to back separation in a future referendum.
But the article was later dismissed by a senior party figure, who said no decision has been taken on who will be in charge.
Miss Cowdy is a former ‘mostly out of work actress’ who had graduated from Oxford, and for some years appeared on TV nature programmes. More recently she has described herself as a ‘political journalist’ – illustrating her website with a series of glamorous pictures.
She has also written blogs about having office affairs and dumping boyfriends, when she wrote a series of columns about ‘dating’.
She covered issues including ‘The dos and don’ts of dumping etiquette’, and ‘An office affair: Needs must’.
The Mail first approached Miss Cowdy and the MPs last week – but they said nothing until a bland announcement about Mr Hosie’s separation from Miss Robison was issued to a Dundee-based paper.
An SNP spokesman said: ‘Stewart and Shona have separated. They have a young daughter, and she will continue to be their priority. Both parties have asked that their privacy is respected during this difficult time. No further comment will be given.’
Reports at the weekend said
there had been rumours of strain in the marriage for some time. The pair met at an SNP conference in 1990 before getting married seven years later.
Miss Robison, who was born in Redcar in North-East England, has been an MSP since Holyrood opened its doors in 1999. She was an active member of the party’s youth wing, and became friendly with future leader Miss Sturgeon.
In 2004, when Miss Sturgeon first stood for the top job – before stepping aside to allow Alex Salmond to make his comeback – Miss Robison was influential in her campaign behind the scenes.
At the time, Mr Hosie had held a number of senior internal positions in the party and one year later became an MP in the 2005 General Election.
Speaking after that contest, Miss Robison said: ‘Westminster is a challenging place to work but it is difficult for any working couple and we are lucky in that we have family support, and not everybody has that, and a good local nursery.
‘We are very conscious that we are going to have to make time for us as a family and we are going to be quite strict about that, particularly at weekends.’
Mr Hosie had a mini-stroke in 2012, but made a full recovery.
He and Miss Robison own a large detached house. Their £350,000 property in Broughty Ferry, Dundee, is situated on a quiet leafy street surrounded by manicured lawns.
Mr MacNeil, who lived with wife Jane on Barra in the Western Isles, brought shame to the party in 2007 when he was caught with girls aged 17 and 18 in a hotel room when his pregnant wife was in hospital.
He expressed bitter regret, apologising for causing ‘embarrassment and hurt’. But the couple only separated last year.
Mr MacNeil’s main home is a croft house on the Isle of Barra. The MP for the Western Isles also owns and rents out two flats, one in Lambeth, central London, and one in Glasgow.
His wife Jane declined to speak when approached by the Mail at her home over the weekend. The dance teacher now lives with their three daughters in Fort William in the Highlands.
While Mr Hosie, who is the party’s Treasury spokesman, has earned a reputation as a formidable politician, Mr MacNeil is frequently mocked by critics at Westminster.
Last year he shut himself in the toilet to avoid voting in favour of an EU referendum after walking into the wrong voting lobby.
Following the party’s success in last year’s General Election, the SNP was handed the right to convene two parliamentary committees.
As a result Mr MacNeil, who entered the Commons like Mr Hosie in 2005, now chairs the Energy and Climate Change select committee. In 2006, he became a high-profile figure after lodging a formal complaint with the police regarding the Labour Party ‘Cash for Peerages’ scandal.
Responding to claims the story showed Nationalist MPs were on a long jolly in London, the party source said: ‘The reality is our MPs are an incredibly hard-working bunch who have been doing a great job for their constituents.
‘The proof of the SNP’s success at Westminster is that we are now widely regarded as the de facto opposition in the Commons, given how feeble Labour have become.’