Well, well, well. After almost three years of Margaret Ferrier’s Covid breaches coming under the spotlight, the SNP MP has finally been ousted from her seat in Rutherglen and Hamilton West. In the end, 11,896 people in her constituency – 14.7 per cent of eligible voters – physically signed the recall petition to eject her, a little over the 10 per cent needed. As if things couldn’t get much worse for Humza Yousaf, the First Minister now has his first big electoral test on his hands in the form of a by-election…
If readers need reminding, Ferrier is the hapless halfwit who became the focus of public uproar in October 2020 after she revealed she had not only travelled to London while waiting for a Covid test result, but visited shops, spoke in parliament and then travelled right back up to Glasgow again — by which time she knew she had tested positive. Speaker Lindsay Hoyle condemned Ferrier for her ‘reckless’ conduct, while the First Minister at the time, Nicola Sturgeon, lambasted her for being guilty of the ‘worst breach possible’.
Ferrier was suspended from the party before being arrested and charged by police for ‘culpable and reckless’ conduct. The MP was forced to carry out 270 hours of community service and told constituents that she ‘deeply regretted’ her actions. But when the House of Commons standards’ committee agreed to suspend Ferrier from the House for 30 days — which triggered the Recall of MPs Act (2015) — the MP kicked up a strop and submitted an (unsuccessful) appeal. Mr S wonders whether Ferrier felt more sorry for herself rather than for her rule-breaking…
The pressure is now on Yousaf as he faces the first by-election of his premiership. Scottish Labour have been marking the territory for months, and are desperate to reclaim the seat. Both the SNP and Labour campaign launches are planning to kick off tomorrow morning within half an hour of each other. Let the battle commence…
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