Stephen Flynn

For other people named Stephen Flynn, see Stephen Flynn (disambiguation).

The Right Honourable
Stephen Flynn
MP
Official portrait, 2024
Leader of the Scottish National Party
in the House of Commons
Incumbent
Assumed office
6 December 2022
DeputyMhairi Black
Pete Wishart
SNP Party LeaderNicola Sturgeon
Humza Yousaf
John Swinney
Preceded byIan Blackford
SNP Spokesperson for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy in the House of Commons
In office
1 February 2021 – 6 December 2022
LeaderIan Blackford
Preceded byDrew Hendry
Succeeded byAlan Brown (Energy and Industrial Strategy)
Member of Parliament
for Aberdeen South
Incumbent
Assumed office
12 December 2019
Preceded byRoss Thomson
Majority3,758 (8.1%)
Personal details
Born
Stephen Mark Flynn

(1988-10-13) 13 October 1988 (age 36)
Dundee, Scotland
Political partyScottish National Party
SpouseLynn Flynn
Children2
Alma materUniversity of Dundee

Stephen Mark Flynn[1] (born 13 October 1988)[2] is a Scottish politician who has served as the leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) in the House of Commons since December 2022. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Aberdeen South since 2019.[3]

In December 2022, Flynn announced his intention to run in the election to succeed Ian Blackford as the SNP Westminster leader.[4] He defeated Alison Thewliss to become leader.[5]

Early life and career

[edit]

Stephen Flynn was born on 13 October 1988 in Dundee, and went to school in Brechin and Dundee. He studied at the University of Dundee, graduating with an undergraduate Master of Arts (MA Hons) in history and politics, and a Master of Letters (MLitt) degree in international politics and security studies.[6]

Flynn previously worked as an assistant to Callum McCaig and in the office of Maureen Watt in Aberdeen.[7][8]

Flynn was first elected to Aberdeen City Council for the Kincorth/Nigg/Cove Ward in 2015 and served as leader of the SNP group on Aberdeen City Council from 2016 till his election to Parliament in 2019.[9]

Parliamentary career

[edit]

Flynn was elected to Parliament as MP for Aberdeen South at the 2019 general election with 45% of the vote and a majority of 3,990 votes.[10][11][12][13] Following his election, Flynn was appointed to the role of Shadow SNP Deputy Spokesperson (Treasury - Financial Secretary).[14] He was promoted to the front bench in February 2021 as Shadow SNP Spokesperson (Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy).[14] Flynn was re-elected to Parliament as MP for Aberdeen South with a decreased vote share of 32.8% and a decreased majority of 3,758.[15][16]

In November 2024, Flynn announced his intention to stand for the 2026 Holyrood election, applying for his party's nomination for the Aberdeen South and North Kincardine seat. Despite speculation that this move might be a step towards replacing John Swinney as leader, Flynn denied such ambitions, expressing full confidence in Swinney's leadership.[17]

SNP Westminster leader

[edit]
See also: Frontbench Team of Stephen Flynn
Flynn speaking during Prime Minister's Questions, 7 February 2024

Following the decision of Ian Blackford to stand down as the SNP Westminster Group Leader, Flynn announced his candidacy for the role, defeating Alison Thewliss 26–17 in a vote of Scottish National Party MPs.[18][19][20][21] His appointment to His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council was announced on 28 March 2024 as part of the 2024 Special Honours, thereby granting him the title The Right Honourable for life.[22]

Flynn's leadership came at a time of a cost of living crisis and when the United Kingdom's Supreme Court set out that the Scottish Parliament does not have the devolved competence to hold an independence referendum without the consent of the British Government. First Minister Nicola Sturgeon had set out plans for the next election to the House of Commons to be a proxy referendum on independence, putting the Frontbench Team at the centre of a constitutional campaign within Scotland.

In February 2024, Flynn was highly critical of the role of the speaker of the House of Commons Lindsay Hoyle during a parliamentary debate on a Gaza ceasefire motion.[23] Flynn stated that "he and his party has been treated with utter contempt and would need "significant convincing" that the Speaker's position was "not now intolerable".[24] The SNP motion was criticised by, amongst others, David Lammy, who stated that "The SNP motion appears one sided. For any ceasefire to work, it must, by necessity, be observed by both sides, or it is not a ceasefire...Israelis have the right to the assurance that the horror of 7 October cannot happen again."[25]

In the 2024 general election, the SNP suffered huge losses losing the vast majority of their seats.[26] As a result, Flynn unveiled a new much slimmed down frontbench including himself, Pete Wishart as his deputy and Kirsty Blackman as chief whip.[27] On 23 July 2024, Labour withdrew the whip from 7 of its MPs who had supported an amendment tabled by Flynn to scrap the two-child benefit cap that was introduced by the Cameron–Clegg coalition in 2013, with Flynn claiming that scrapping the cap would immediately raise 300,000 children out of poverty. MPs rejected the SNP amendment by 363 votes to 103.[28] The seven Labour MPs suspended for six months were John McDonnell, Richard Burgon, Ian Byrne, Rebecca Long-Bailey, Imran Hussain, Apsana Begum and Zarah Sultana, all of whom now sit as independents. Keir Starmer launched a Child Poverty Taskforce, in which expert officials from across government would work together on how best to support more than four-million children living in poverty.[29]

In November 2024, Flynn declared his intention to stand as the SNP candidate for the Aberdeen South and North Kincardine Holyrood constituency at the next Scottish Parliament election, while still holding his Westminster seat until the next UK general election. Flynn said that his decision to hold a dual mandate in Holyrood and Westminster would offer him a "platform to speak up for Scotland's interest" in both parliaments. Flynn's decision was criticised by other SNP politicians: party rules introduced prior to the 2021 Holyrood election require SNP MPs to resign their seat at Westminster before seeking selection to Holyrood, and the SNP had previously criticised Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross for simultaneously holding Westminster and Holyrood seats. SNP MSP Emma Roddick said that she hoped Flynn "rethinks" his plans to stand in both houses. Flynn told The Press and Journal that he believed the party's selection rules were "election-specific". Former SNP MP Joanna Cherry, who abandoned a selection bid for Holyrood in 2020 owing to the change in rules, sarcastically remarked in a post on Twitter that the rule was "person-specific" and predicted that, having "served its purpose", it would not be in place for the next Holyrood election. Both the Scottish Conservatives and Scottish Labour accused Flynn of hypocrisy.[30]

Personal life

[edit]

Flynn is married to Lynn Flynn with two children.[31] His father Mark Flynn is a Dundee City councillor who was elected as leader of the council in August 2024.[32]

Flynn has suffered from a serious condition called avascular necrosis since his teens and underwent a hip replacement for it in 2020.[33] In 2023, he told The News Agents "I was disabled" before the operation, and had walked with a crutch for eighteen years, which led to him reading more as a child.[34]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Members Sworn". Hansard.parliament.uk. 20 December 2019. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
  2. ^ Brunskill, Ian (19 March 2020). The Times guide to the House of Commons 2019 : the definitive record of Britain's historic 2019 General Election. HarperCollins Publishers Limited. p. 76. ISBN 978-0-00-839258-1. OCLC 1129682574.
  3. ^ "General Election 2019: Aberdeen South Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  4. ^ PA Media (5 December 2022). "Stephen Flynn announces candidacy for SNP leadership". The Guardian.
  5. ^ "Stephen Flynn elected as new SNP leader at Westminster". BBC News. 6 December 2022. Retrieved 6 December 2022.
  6. ^ "Getting to know you: Stephen Flynn". Holyrood. 2 December 2020. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
  7. ^ Beattie, Kieran (16 March 2016). "Aberdeen's SNP council group announce new leader". Retrieved 16 November 2023.
  8. ^ Rhodes, Mandy (19 December 2022). "Stephen Flynn: 'There was an expectation I would have to be in a wheelchair'". Holyrood. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
  9. ^ Ewen, David (15 March 2013). "Aberdeen SNP group announces new leader". Evening Express. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  10. ^ "General Election 2019". Aberdeen City Council. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
  11. ^ "Aberdeen South parliamentary constituency - Election 2019". Retrieved 15 December 2019.
  12. ^ "Commons Briefing Paper 8749. General Election 2019: results and analysis" (PDF). London: House of Commons Library. 28 January 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 November 2021. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
  13. ^ Campsie, Alison (12 December 2019). "General Election 2019: SNP steal Ross Thomson's old Aberdeen South seat from Tories". The Scotsman. Retrieved 14 December 2019.
  14. ^ a b "Stephen Flynn". UK Parliament. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
  15. ^ "Aberdeen South - General election results 2024". BBC News. Retrieved 7 July 2024.
  16. ^ "General Election 2024: Aberdeen results". Aberdeen City Council. 10 May 2024. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
  17. ^ Mitchell, Jenness (12 November 2024). "SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn aims to become MSP at next Holyrood election". Sky News. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
  18. ^ "Ian Blackford to stand down as SNP leader at Westminster". BBC News. 1 December 2022. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
  19. ^ Sim, Philip (6 December 2022). "Stephen Flynn elected as new SNP leader at Westminster". BBC News. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
  20. ^ "Blackford denies being pushed out by SNP MPs". BBC News. 4 December 2022. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
  21. ^ "Ian Blackford: Why has SNP Westminster chief stepped down?". BBC News. 1 December 2022. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
  22. ^ "Privy Council appointment: March 2024" (PDF). GOV.UK. 28 March 2024. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
  23. ^ "Gaza ceasefire vote: SNP MPs walk out in protest at Speaker". The Herald. 21 February 2024.
  24. ^ Flynn, Stephen (23 February 2024). "Starmer used every trick in the book to stop MPs voting on SNP ceasefire motion". Daily Record. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
  25. ^ "Hansard. Ceasefire in Gaza debate". 21 February 2024.
  26. ^ Meighan, Craig (4 July 2024). "SNP suffers huge losses as Labour sweeps to power across UK". STV News. Retrieved 13 July 2024.
  27. ^ "New SNP frontbench roles confirmed after loss of seats at General Election". The National. 10 July 2024. Retrieved 13 July 2024.
  28. ^ "Labour suspends seven rebel MPs over two-child benefit cap". BBC News. 23 July 2024.
  29. ^ "Starmer sets up taskforce for 4m UK children in poverty". BBC News. 17 July 2024. Retrieved 26 July 2024.
  30. ^ "Flynn aims to stand for SNP at Holyrood election". BBC News. 13 November 2024. Retrieved 13 November 2024.
  31. ^ Merson, Adele (1 December 2022). "Who is Stephen Flynn? The Aberdeen MP who is now SNP Westminster leader". The Press and Journal. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
  32. ^ Clark, Alasdair (12 August 2024). "EXCLUSIVE: Stephen Flynn's dad Mark to be new Dundee City Council leader". The Courier. Retrieved 12 August 2024.
  33. ^ Scott, Kevin (6 December 2022). "Stephen Flynn: Who is the SNP's new Westminster leader?". STV. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
  34. ^ Lewis Goodall (7 July 2023). "The News Agents: Zuckerberg v Musk: it's war" (Podcast). Global. Event occurs at 27:40. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
[edit]
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