Lord Shameless!
SNP outcry as former leader Blackford asks the Tories and Labour to hand him a seat in House of Lords
THE SNP’s former Westminster leader, Ian Blackford, has sparked fury in party ranks over an audacious bid to enter the House of Lords, the Mail on Sunday can reveal.
The MP for Ross, Skye and Lochaber – who recently dumped his loyal wife of 24 years for his childhood sweetheart – has approached both Labour and the Tories to ask them to nominate him for a peerage, despite the SNP’s fierce opposition to the Lords, insiders say.
A number of sources close to Mr Blackford have confirmed that he has privately met Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and the Conservative Secretary of State for Scotland, Alister Jack, in a bid to secure a nomination.
They fear that his manoeuvres, in flagrant defiance of the SNP’s policy to abolish the Lords, also informed his decision to abstain on a vote of no confidence in Commons speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle amid the Gaza furore earlier this year.
Concerns were raised that he failed to vote with his own party to curry favour with Sir Keir.
Mr Blackford – a former banker who once described himself as a simple crofter – has denied having the meetings. However, sources insist that he has.
Now his future as a Nationalist politician is hanging in the balance as he could face losing the whip. He is to stand down as an MP at the next general election.
One source told The Mail on Sunday: ‘Trying to get a peerage is completely at odds with the SNP’s stance on the unelected House of Lords. [Westminster leader] Stephen Flynn has stated that no SNP MP will enter the House of Lords under his watch.’
Another senior insider, who confirmed Mr Blackford’s conversation with Mr Jack and expressed incredulity at his shameless attempts to continue his life in Westminster, added: ‘What Ian Blackford is doing is so wrong. He should lose the whip.’
A third source said: ‘He asked Sir
Keir Starmer to include him on his honours list, but Sir Keir was incredulous and responded saying, “Why would I nominate you instead of a Labour MP?”
‘He is desperate for a peerage despite constantly denying it. He even went to Alister Jack to ask the Tories to list him, but Jack said “no chance”. It is pretty pathetic.’
In January, Mr Blackford reportedly told an event for student journalists that he would not rule out accepting a place in the upper chamber if he was offered one.
The latest controversy surrounding Mr Blackford comes after he was pictured last week grinning with his new partner, Kim Lyons, at the SNP’s 90th anniversary celebrations. He had previously introduced Ms Lyons to MPs during Hogmanay fireworks celebrations on the House of Commons terrace.
In an interview with The Mail on Sunday after we revealed that Mr Blackford, 62, had left his wife Ann, 66, for Ms Lyons, family friends lambasted the high-profile politician for ‘destroying’ his wife’s life and labelled him ‘emotionally bereft’. They told how he cruelly ‘dumped’ his wife and later confessed that he was seeing another woman – someone he had first met when he was 19.
He spent £300 from the couple’s joint bank account on sexy lingerie for his new girlfriend and paid to rent a ‘love nest’ in Cardiff so that he could conduct his affair with Ms Lyons, an avid fan of the Bay City Rollers.
In the interview, an insider said he had also discussed with relatives a bid to get into the upper chamber. The source said: ‘Household discussions have looked at whether he should go for a position in the House of Lords.’
There have also been claims that Mr Blackford is in the process of securing a flat in Glasgow’s West End for himself and Ms Lyons.
Mr Blackford said last night: ‘The House of Lords is an archaic and undemocratic institution – I wholeheartedly support the SNP’s longstanding position.’
‘Desperate for peerage despite denying it’