Ian Blackford to stand down as SNP MP at next election
Former SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford taking part in media interviews on College Green in Westminster
PA
Ian Blackford has announced he will stand down as an SNP MP at the next general election.
The 62-year-old, who entered the House of Commons after defeating former Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy in 2015, will leave Parliament after almost a decade in Westminster.
Blackford revealed he had thought "long and hard" about whether to stand for Ross, Skye & Lochaber for the fourth successive general election.
He added: "Having stood down as SNP Westminster leader, I have gone through a period of reflection as to how I can best assist the party and the cause of independence - a cause I have campaigned for since joining the SNP as a teenager in the 1970s.
Blackford, a close ally to former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, served as leader of the SNP in Westminster from 2017 to 2022
GB News
"My desire to see Scotland become an independent country, and for our country and its people to achieve its full potential, remains as strong as when I first entered politics decades ago.
"Although I will not be standing for the Westminster Parliament at the next election, I look forward to playing my part in the continuing campaign for Scottish independence and supporting our first minister and the SNP as we go forward to the next election and beyond."
Blackford, a close ally to former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, served as leader of the SNP in Westminster from 2017 to 2022.
However, the 62-year-old faced calls to resign last year after details of a recording emerged in which he allegedly urged fellow MPs to give “absolute full support” to an SNP colleague who had been suspended for sexual misconduct.
Ian Blackford was thanked by SNP rival Stephen Flynn
PAPatrick Grady, a former SNP chief whip, was suspended from Parliament for two days over a sexual advance towards a colleague in 2016 and suspended from the SNP’s Westminster group for a week.
Sturgeon later condemned her ally's expressed support as "unacceptable".
Blackford successfully prevented efforts to oust him but stop down within weeks.
Aberdeen South MP Stephen Flynn, who was reportedly among those looking to remove Blackford, would later succeed him as SNP leader in Westminster.
Humza Yousaf received Ian Blackford's support in the most recent SNP leadership race
PAFlynn thanked Blackford for his service in the Commons, labelling the ex-banker an SNP "stalwart".
He added: "[Blackford] will be sorely missed by his constituents and colleagues when he stands down as an MP but I am confident that he will have a key role in continuing the campaign for Scotland to become an independent country."
Blackford threw his weight behind ex-Scottish Health Secretary Humza Yousaf in the race to succeed Sturgeon at Bute House.
He unsuccessfully stood for Parliament in Ayr in the 1997 general election and in Paisley in a by-election just a few months later.