West Dunbartonshire's MP, Martin Docherty-Hughes, has said that Rishi Sunak's appointment as the fifth Conservative leader in six years illustrates why Scotland needs to break away from Westminster.
Former Chancellor of the Exchequer, Sunak, was the only MP to meet the threshold of 100 backers required to make the next stage of the contest.
He will become Prime Minister after a meeting with the King at Buckingham Palace with his effective coronation coming just weeks after he lost a bitter contest to Liz Truss.
Truss quit last week after just 44 days in charge following a disastrous mini-budget that nearly torpedoed the UK economy.
Sunak triumphed after Boris Johnson, whose resignation as PM led to Truss taking the job, withdrew from the race - despite claiming to have the backing of more than 100 MPs.
Commons leader Penny Mordaunt was also standing, however conceded early this afternoon after failing to find 100 MPs willing to support her. The threshold that would've forced a membership vote.
Speaking after the news was announced, SNP member Martin has said it was "preposterous" that another Tory would take control at Westminster.
He said: "It’s preposterous that another Tory Prime Minister is going to be imposed on Scotland, without any democratic legitimacy.
“We haven’t voted Tory in Scotland for almost 70 years, yet this is the fifth different Conservative Prime Minister we’ll face in just 6 years.
“The previous occupants at No. 10, Boris Johnson and Liz Truss, have trashed the economy and pushed struggling families to the brink.
“The last thing our communities in West Dunbartonshire need is another UK Prime Minister we didn’t vote for imposing damaging austerity cuts.
“Rishi Sunak is a multi-millionaire who as Chancellor slashed Universal Credit for hard-pressed households. The new Prime Minister boasted to Tory party members that he deliberately diverted cash away from deprived areas like ours.
“It’s clear ordinary people here face paying a heavy price for living under Westminster rule. Scotland needs independence so we can choose a different path, and rid ourselves of Tory governments we don’t vote for once and for all.”
