Back to Scotland, where the Nats are still reeling after their general election defeat. The national poll left the SNP with just nine seats and the exodus has rocked the secessionists. It transpires that while Stephen Flynn has remained leader of the Westminster group, Pete Wishart is now his deputy and Kirsty Blackman is the party’s new Chief Whip. But while the SNP attempts to reassemble, there are financial problems to worry about. Thanks to the bad publicity of the ongoing police probe into party funds, member donations dried up – and now it turns out that the SNP is facing more post-election financial woes.
The party is set to lose out on nearly £1 million of short money now that it is no longer the third largest group in Westminster – and having fewer MPs means that the Nats will also lose individual contributions usually paid to the party HQ by their politicians. As the Times reported, last year the SNP’s Westminster leader increased his parliamentarians’ annual contribution to pooled funding by 3 per cent to £11,893. And Mr S has learned that each member of parliament was expected to pay in approximately £250 a month to party HQ. The party lost 39 MPs to end up with just nine after the election – meaning SNP headquarters will miss out on over £100,000 of cash a year going forwards, and around half a million over the next parliamentary term. Ouch…
There’s more bad news for nationalist researchers and press officers – as many have made redundant this week. Sources tell Steerpike that there has been a culling spree – with the Westminster group down to just just four staff from around 25, not including staffers for individual MPs. ‘It’s the one time the party has been efficient,’ an insider joked. Quite.
Group leader Stephen Flynn attempted to muster some maturity in Westminster on Tuesday, telling the House that ‘there’s probably a few more new members from Scottish constituencies that I would like to have seen – but I do look forward to working constructively with you.’ Charming. Yet while many of Flynn’s former colleagues have shared their shock at the SNP’s poor result last week – Hannah Bardell has produced a series of TikToks lamenting her loss while a weepy Alison Thewliss was photographed at her count – many party staffers are rather unsympathetic. Several have blasted the SNP HQ’s ‘delusion’ that it was going to do better in the poll, while one added: ‘We’ve been warning them for ages. They don’t listen.’
Meanwhile former MP Douglas Chapman has called for Swinney to step aside for Stephen Flynn and Kate Forbes as ousted politician Alyn Smith slammed the party leadership for ‘the defence of the indefensible’ over the handling of the Michael Matheson iPad scandal. Talk about trouble in paradise…
Comments