Dissatisfied MP Black ‘may not seek re-election’
BRITAIN’S youngest MP Mhairi Black could stand down at the next election as the SNP firebrand “hates” being at Westminster and finds it “depressing”.
She was elected in 2015 as the UK’s youngest MP since 1667 when she stunned Labour’s Douglas Alexander by taking the Paisley and Renfrewshire South seat at the 2015 General Election.
But despite earning plaudits from across the House for her performances in the Chamber, the 22-year-old says she does not like being an MP and may not stand again.
Asked directly if she will stand for re-election, she said: “I don’t know. I think you should only stand in politics if you think there is a need for you to be in it. It has been nearly two years and I still hate the place.
“It is depressing. It is a pain to come up and down every week and you are working with a number of people you find quite troubling.”
The revelation that she may stand down in 2020 when the next General Election is due will surprise supporters.
But she has found friends in the most unlikely of places, though, jokingly calling the Eton-educated, archEurosceptic Tory Jacob ReesMogg “her boyfriend”.
She said: “I get on quite well with a lot of the Labour old guard and quite a few Tories actually. There is my boyfriend – Jacob Rees-Mogg. He’s my favourite. It’s the kind of place where, if you are reasonable with folk then they will soften a little.”
But she may agree to be the poster girl for the Yes campaign if there is a second independence referendum.
She said: “It is why I got into this whole game. Independence is going to happen. All roads point to it.”