The former MP has opened up about why she quit the party
BY ELLA GAUCI, IMAGE VIA INSTAGRAM (@MHAIRI_BLACK_)
Former MP Mhairi Black has announced that she has left SNP, stating that she doesn’t agree with decisions made, predominantly about trans rights and Palestine.
Black made history in 2015 when she became the youngest MP to be elected since 1832. She stepped down in 2023, citing the “toxic environment” of Westminster. Now, in an interview with The Herald, Black has explained that she has left the SNP after being unhappy with the direction of the party.
“There have just been too many times when I’ve thought, ‘I don’t agree with what you’ve done there,’ or the decision or strategy that has been arrived at,” she told The Herald.
In particular, Black stated that the party’s “capitulation on LGBT rights, trans rights in particular” had been an issue for her. She added, “I thought the party could be doing better about Palestine as well.”
Earlier this year, Black stated that she was “done with party politics”.
Black has always been a staunch supporter of trans rights in particular. In 2023, she said: “I’m a woman, I’m a lesbian, nobody’s cancelling me. I want trans people to be able to live with dignity and happiness, and for newspapers and politicians to leave them the hell alone.”
Last year, the lesbian politician took her show Politics Isn’t For Me to the Edinburgh Fringe to discuss her time in politics. This year, she will be performing her new show Work In Progress.
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