‘Love triangle’ MP Hosie returns to top role in new leader’s Commons reshuffle
A SCOTS MP who stood down as the SNP’s deputy leader following love triangle allegations has returned to one of the most high-profile posts on his party’s front bench.
Stewart Hosie, MP for Dundee East, has been given the Nationalists’ Treasury brief in the House of Commons, following his loyal support for new Westminster leader Stephen Flynn, 34.
Six years ago, Mr Hosie was forced to issue an apology to his family and party leader Nicola Sturgeon ‘for any hurt and upset’ caused when it was revealed that he and Nationalist MP for Western Isles Angus MacNeil were both alleged to have had extramarital affairs with a Westminster political journalist, Serena Cowdy.
The affairs ended Mr Hosie’s marriage to Holyrood’s Social Justice Secretary Shona Robison and Mr MacNeil’s marriage to his wife, Jane.
Ms Cowdy, who claimed at the time that she ‘couldn’t keep her knickers on’ when near Nationalist MPs and described them as the ‘Mujahideen of British politics’, married Mr Hosie in August 2018 and is now
‘Usually change like this accompanies failure’
an SNP councillor. Mr Hosie replaces Glasgow Central MP Alison Thewliss, Mr Flynn’s main rival for the leadership, sparked by Ian Blackford’s resignation after five years at the helm.
Ms Thewliss, who was seen as Ms Sturgeon’s preferred candidate to replace Mr Blackford, 61, before losing by 17 votes to 26 in last Tuesday’s leadership contest, has been moved sideways into Home Affairs.
The reshuffle, announced yesterday, follows a torrid week for the Westminster group during which three members of the front bench team – Pete Wishart, Stewart McDonald and Chris Law – all quit their posts in the wake of Mr Blackford’s resignation as leader.
After days of denials – led by Mr Hosie – that there was any split in the party over the appointment, Mr Wishart, shadow leader of the House of Commons, finally blew the lid off the internal warring with a pointed resignation letter to Mr Flynn, the MP for Aberdeen South.
Saying he was ‘bemused’ by the change at the top, he added: ‘Usually change of this significance accompanies failure. We are looking only at sustained and growing success as a party and a movement.
‘I am sure that this will become apparent to me during the course of your leadership.
‘I also look forward to seeing first-hand what you hope to do differently in the day-to-day management of the group.
Mr Flynn previously denied that he was attempting to topple his predecessor, while Mr Blackford, the MP for Ross, Skye and Lochaber, claimed it was his decision to stand down to take on a new role within the independence campaign. However, Mr Wishart’s letter questioned the sequence of events, revealing that there had been canvassing for support by Mr Flynn ahead of Mr Blackford’s resignation.
Just three hours after Mr Wishart’s resignation, the party’s defence spokesman at Westminster, Stewart McDonald, MP for Glasgow South, also quit. As the revolt grew, Dundee West MP Chris Law, the SNP’s spokesperson for international development and climate justice, also resigned on Thursday night. The day before, Mr Hosie, who proposed Mr Flynn – previously the party’s lead on business, energy and industrial strategy –for the leadership role, insisted that any talk of division was fabricated.
Speaking on BBC Good Morning Scotland, Mr Hosie said: ‘I have to tell you, that seems to be a work of complete fiction.
‘I have heard it, normally promoted by the SNP’s political opponents, but the party’s absolutely united behind our goal of achieving independence, absolutely united behind the fantastic leadership of Nicola Sturgeon, and I think with Stephen Flynn at the helm in Westminster we’ll see closer working than we’ve ever done.’
‘It seems to be a work of complete fiction’