Flynn aims to be SNP’ s leader in Westminster

Dundee-born SNP MP Stephen Flynn has announced he will stand to be the party’s next leader at Westminster.

Mr Flynn, MP for Aberdeen South, announced his decision on Twitter.

“I’ll be standing to be the SNP group leader at Westminster,” he tweeted.

“Independence is coming, let’s get on and deliver it.”

He was widely touted by insiders for the role after Highland MP Ian Blackford confirmed he is standing down as SNP Westminster leader amid speculation of a coup by Mr Flynn.

But Mr Flynn stated last week: “I can confirm I’ve no intention of standing.”

He promised to “stand up for Scotland” yesterday.

“Few working class folk make it to parliament, fewer still run to be political leaders,” he said. “Even fewer do so having spent the entirety of their teenage and adult years battling a physical disability. Your experiences tend to shape you and I am no different.

“I want to see a Scotland where opportunity exists for all, where we have the powers to combat poverty and to create a green energy revolution.

“I want to see us sat at the top tables in Europe and the UN.

“I want to see us make our case with positivity, energy and determination.

“We have the people, the skills and the know how – we just need the power.

“Because the answers to the problems we face don’t lie in Westminster.

“The Tories will keep shredding our relationship with Europe and the Labour Party will cheer them on.

“Our economy has been set alight and despite our huge energy resources our people are in financial peril.”

The father-of-two, who grew up in Dundee and Brechin, moved to Aberdeen where his wife was working as a teacher more than a decade ago.

He studied history and politics at Dundee University, then a postgraduate degree in international relations and security studies. He joined the office of former SNP MSP Maureen Watt when he moved to Aberdeen.

Mr Flynn is a Dundee United fan, telling Holyrood Magazine in 2020 his “guilty pleasure is still travelling down to Dundee to watch Dundee United”.

Also throwing her hat in the ring is Glasgow Central MP Alison Thewliss.

She announced her candidacy on Saturday night, saying she would be a “clear contrast” to “two men shouting at each other across the dispatch box”.

Ms Thewliss has been an MP since 2015 when she unseated current Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar.

She stated: “I’ve been working for independence for over half my life. Scotland is closer to achieving that now more than ever before.

“The Westminster group needs a leader who can build on Ian Blackford’s achievements and demonstrate that independence, far from being abstract, is the alternative to Brexit, the cost-of-living crisis and Tory austerity.”

Ms Thewliss is the party’s treasury spokesperson.

The SNP’S Westminster deputy leader Kirsten Oswald will also stand down.

Rivals Stephen Flyn and Alison Thewliss.