MP denies challenge for SNP Westminster leadership role

Stephen Flynn has been MP for Aberdeen South since 2019

An SNP MP has denied reports that he was set to challenge Ian Blackford to become the party's Westminster leader.

Stephen Flynn said he had "no intention of standing" for the role, following newspaper reports that he had advised senior party figures of the move.

The Aberdeen South MP was said to have been "on manoeuvres" by SNP colleagues.

Mr Blackford has made clear he intends to stand for re-election at the SNP Westminster group's annual general meeting in December.

In March, Mr Blackford denied rumours he was considering resigning from the post amid further reports of infighting.

• SNP's Blackford dismisses resignation rumours

There have been a series of stories surrounding the Ross, Skye and Lochaber MP's position during 2022.

In March, the Politico website said the MP was considering his position due to a "weeks-long row" over statements he had made about pensions in an independent Scotland.

But Mr Blackford insisted there was "nothing in it", adding: "I have a good team, a strong team, we are getting on with the job."

There was a further row in June over the handling of complaints against Glasgow MP Patrick Grady, who was suspended from parliament for two days after he was found to have made a sexual advance to a teenage staffer.

Mr Blackford was recorded during a subsequent group meeting urging members to "give as much support as possible" to Mr Grady - something he later apologised for, with the party launching an external review of its complaints system.

The Times reported on Wednesday that Mr Flynn was lining up a challenge to Mr Blackford's position, and that he had informed senior party figures of the move.

The newspaper said supporters of the Aberdeen South MP believed they had the numbers to win a vote against Mr Blackford at the group's AGM in December.

But Mr Flynn dismissed the story, tweeting that he had "no intention" of standing.

And Mr Blackford, who appeared on the BBC's Question Time programme later that evening, has made it clear he intends to stay in post and will put himself forward for re-election.

There have been rumblings of a leadership challenge within the SNP Westminster group for some time.

Part of that is due to some disquiet about Mr Blackford's performance, most recently over the handling of harassment complaints against Patrick Grady. Another part is that there are a few ambitious characters in the group, eager to supplant him at the top.

But perhaps the main catalyst for this kind of bickering is that the group doesn't have much else to focus its energies on. In one MP's words, the rows are a symptom of "people with the luxury of too much time on their hands".

Unlike colleagues at Holyrood, the SNP are not in government at Westminster. And unlike the official Labour opposition, they do not aspire to be in charge of the House of Commons.

Without an active independence campaign on the go, MPs spend less time talking about the core issue that binds them together, and more time scratching around for things to argue about.

Mr Blackford and the rest of the party leadership will obviously be hoping that next week's Supreme Court ruling will move the constitutional debate along - both in their quest for independence, but also for party unity.