‘Nicola wants his head...she needs to push him out to save her skin’

THE fallout from the sex pest scandal has created a devastating rift in the ranks of the SNP.

MPs are privately questioning whether Ian Blackford’s future as leader of the SNP group at Westminster is secure.

He has been criticised by Nicola Sturgeon for supporting disgraced MP Patrick Grady, who was suspended from Parliament for making unwanted sexual advances to a teenage staff member.

It is now believed the First Minister wants to get rid of Mr Blackford. However, some MPs feel as if they have been ‘thrown under the bus’ by Ms Sturgeon after she condemned their support for Mr Grady as ‘utterly unacceptable’.

Factions have emerged among the 45 MPs representing the SNP at Westminster and the party’s leadership. Many SNP members feel that both Ms Sturgeon and Mr Blackford have questions to answer over their handling of the Grady affair.

This paper understands that, privately, Ms Sturgeon ‘wants Ian Blackford’s head’ and believes she needs to ‘push him’ out of the party to save herself.

‘Blackford is like Boris – he likes the position but he does not know what to do with it,’ a source said last night. ‘Will he be there in six months? I really don’t know.’

However, there is no formal move to oust him yet.

The source added: ‘Blackford is aloof and increasingly isolated, but nobody is making a move.

‘Even his loyalists are not looking out for him quite as they used to, so he has nobody to really turn to for good advice.

‘Blackford is feeling the pressure. He really wanted the job and he will not give it up easily.’

Ms Sturgeon also has her own problems to face. Discontent and disaffection are mounting, with many becoming frustrated at a perceived lack of interaction between Ms Sturgeon and the Westminster group. During a visit to London this year, Ms Sturgeon gave a remote video call to MPs but the ‘adoration’ she was accustomed to had apparently gone.

SNP top brass hope a planned announcement by Ms Sturgeon on Tuesday over her plans for a second independence referendum will unify the warring party. However, there are fears the ‘stink’ of the Grady scandal will not go away any time soon. There is also anger that there appears to be one rule for allies of Ms Sturgeon and another for the rest of the party.

Former Nationalist MSP Mark McDonald, who was found to have sent unwanted text messages and caused distress to two women, was encouraged by her to stand down in 2018. At the time she said: ‘He was elected as an SNP MSP. If his behaviour is such that he himself considers he cannot continue as an SNP MSP, then it would be appropriate to give his constituents the opportunity to elect a new MSP.’

While Ms Sturgeon has admitted Mr Grady’s behaviour was wrong, she has not publicly demanded that he step aside.

She said last week: ‘Patrick Grady’s behaviour was investigated by an independent process, an inde

‘He wanted the job and won’t give it up easily’ ‘Loyalists not looking out for him as they used to’

pendent process that all parties in the House of Commons, as I understand, are signed up to.

‘The findings of that independent process were published, as is right and proper, and a sanction was imposed, a sanction recommended by that independent process and replicated by the SNP Westminster group.’

The SNP last night played down the talk of a split and said Ms Sturgeon had given Mr Blackford her full support.