STEPHEN Flynn has addressed “anger” within the SNP at his decision to bid for a Holyrood seat while retaining his place at Westminster.
The SNP MP appeared on the BBC Sunday Show after facing internal criticism earlier in the week by publicly announcing his intention to stand in Aberdeen South and North Kincardine in the 2026 Scottish parliament elections – which is currently held by SNP MSP Audrey Nicoll.
Speaking on the BBC, Flynn dismissed reports he had pressured Nicoll to stand aside as “lies”, said he would not step down from Westminster in order to save the taxpayer money, and declined to rule out a bid for the SNP leadership.
Asked about reports that the SNP group at Holyrood was “united in anger” at his decision, Flynn said: “Look, there's always going to be a strong reaction to someone seeking to do things slightly differently. I've experienced this before in politics.
“It's not something which is particularly pleasant. It's not something which is particularly comfortable, particularly when you're dealing with people who you know really well you're dealing with, in my case, a colleague who overlaps almost entirely with the constituency that I currently represent at Westminster.”
Asked about reports which suggested he had pushed Nicoll to stand aside, Flynn said: “That's a lie.”
He went on: “I did call Audrey the night before. We had a fairly cordial conversation, albeit brief. Myself and Audrey speak relatively frequently, as I'm sure you can imagine.
“I made clear to her my intentions. Audrey, of course, suggested that some had been thinking that I may seek to seek candidacy in Dundee, which I assume would be a much bigger story. I don't want to do that. I live in Aberdeen. This is where my life is, I’m very fortunate to represent the people here.
“She told me that she wasn't overly surprised at the decision that I was taking, that I was obviously seeking to progress my activities in politics and that was ultimately the end of the conversation.”
Flynn was also asked why he would not step down from Westminster, given his previous claims that being an MP is a full-time job and criticism of former Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross for holding seats in two parliaments at once.
He said: “I'm looking to save the public a significant amount of money, the public in Aberdeen, by not having a by-election. I think that would be welcomed by them in these tough financial times.
“I'm looking to save the party a significant amount of money as well.”
And asked if he is “on manoeuvres” with an eye on the SNP leadership, Flynn suggested he was – but that it was a question for the future.
“I'm ambitious,” he said. “I'm seriously ambitious for Aberdeen and for Scotland.”
After BBC host Martin Geissler suggested he was also ambitious “for Stephen Flynn”, the MP responded: “I don't think that's called for.”
He went on: “I don't believe that there's going to be a leadership contest in the Scottish National Party for a long, long time because John Swinney is going to win the Scottish Parliament elections in 2026.
Flynn was asked about whether he had told Swinney of his intention to run for Holyrood before making it public, but he declined to either confirm or deny if he had done so.
“I had conversations with people right across the party,” he said.
“Locally, local activists, key local activists, everyone who needed to be aware of what my intentions were were aware of what my intentions are.”
