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The National (Scotland)
The National (Scotland)
National
Adam Robertson

See the full list of Scottish MPs standing down at the next election

RISHI Sunak confirmed on Wednesday that the next General Election will take place on July 4 after a day of intense speculation.

Prior to this, more than 100 MPs had already said they were planning to stand down from representing their constituency.

Here’s a look at the full list of MPs who are planning on standing down in Scotland.

Mhairi Black

The MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire South (below) announced last July that she would not be seeking re-election.

Black became the parliament’s youngest MP since 1832 when she was elected age 20 in 2015, and hit out at Westminster when announcing her decision.

She described the London parliament as an “outdated, sexist and toxic” working environment.

Ian Blackford

The SNP’s former Westminster leader is also among those to say he is stepping down, having been elected as the MP for Ross, Skye and Lochaber in 2015.

He said he looked forward to “playing my part” outside frontline politics when he leaves Westminster.

Blackford (above) was succeeded as his party’s Westminster leader by Stephen Flynn.

Philippa Whitford

Philippa Whitford (below) has been the MP for Central Ayrshire since 2015 and also announced she would be stepping down.

She previously said: “It has been an honour to serve as the MP for the people of central Ayrshire for the last eight years and to have been their choice in three elections.

“However, I will not be seeking re-election at the next Westminster election.”

Peter Grant

The MP for Glenrothes previously said he was unsure whether he would be able to cope with the “physical and mental demands of the job” due to his age.

He said he decided not to seek re-election “after a great deal of soul searching”.

Angela Crawley

Crawley (below) has served as the MP for Lanark and Hamilton East since taking the seat from Labour in 2015.

In an open letter to her constituents, she said her time as an MP had been “dedicated to championing equality, tackling poverty, and challenging the excesses of a hard-right Tory UK Government”.

She said serving her community was always her “number one priority” but that this had “come at a personal cost and required many difficult compromises”.

Douglas Chapman

In a statement on his website, Chapman (below), the MP for Dunfermline and West Fife, said his decision to stand down was not an easy one but that it came following discussions with family and “close political friends”.

He said he would “continue to work towards achieving our national mission to see Scotland become a happy independent nation”.

Stewart Hosie

Veteran MP Stewart Hosie (below) also said he would be standing down having represented Dundee East for almost 20 years.

He has been a member of the SNP for nearly four decades and said he took the decision after a “great deal of thought”.

He said working as an MP had “been the greatest privilege of my life”.

John McNally

McNally (below) has been the MP for Falkirk since 2015 having first become an elected councillor in 2005 for the party.

He said his decision was mainly motivated by family reasons and that he wanted to spend more time with his family.

However, he admitted that the decision had taken “some soul searching” having been in politics for so long.

Patrick Grady

Grady (below) has been the MP for Glasgow North since May 2015. He had the whip restored at Westminster in 2022 amid a police investigation into allegations of sexual harassment. 

The probe was dropped but an independent parliamentary investigation found he had behaved inappropriately towards a member of staff at a party function in 2016 and he received a two-day suspension from the House of Commons

Alister Jack

The Scottish Secretary has also confirmed he won’t be standing as an MP at the next General Election.

Jack (below) first won the seat at the 2017 General Election, winning the seat from the SNP’s Richard Arkless.

He has served as the Secretary of State for Scotland since 2019 under three prime ministers – Liz Truss, Rishi Sunak and Boris Johnson.

Douglas Ross

The leader of the Scottish Conservatives has also said he won’t be standing again at Westminster in order to focus on his role at Holyrood as an MSP.

He has served as the MP for Moray since 2017 and has been the leader of the Scottish Tories since August 2020.

Ross's (above) seat in Moray was previously held by the SNP’s Angus Robertson.

Lisa Cameron

Cameron (below), the MP for East Kilbride, hit the headlines last October when she quit the SNP to join the Scottish Tories.

She said at the time she “did not feel able to continue in what I have experienced as a toxic and bullying SNP Westminster group”.

The seat has been won by the SNP since the 2015 General Election although was held by Labour from 2005 prior to this.

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