Meet Lord Shameless! SNP outcry as former leader Ian Blackford asks the Tories ... trends now
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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.
Ian Blackford arrives at an SNP birthday party at Glasgow University Union with new love Kim Lyons last week
The MP for Ross, Skye and Lochaber is eyeing a seat in the House of Lords
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.
