SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn aims to become MSP at next Holyrood election
SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn has announced he intends to stand at the 2026 Holyrood election – but has brushed off speculation it’s a move to take over from John Swinney.
Mr Flynn, 36, was re-elected as the MP for Aberdeen South in July’s general election and has now submitted an application to seek his party’s nomination for the Aberdeen South and North Kincardine seat to become an MSP.
If successful, Mr Flynn said he would remain an MP until the next Westminster election but would not draw two salaries.
Writing in the Press and Journal newspaper, Mr Flynn said he was throwing his “bonnet in the ring”.
He added: “I don’t want to sit out the upcoming battles that our city, shire and country face in Holyrood.
“From funding the energy transition to funding childcare, from free higher education to higher household bills, from GP appointments to GDP growth, the debates will be many and varied.
“In my mind, it is clear that we are at a crucial junction in our nation’s story.”
He also said he hoped to help his party “build the case for independence”.
SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn. Pic: PA
Mr Flynn has often been touted as a potential future party leader.
He did not run in this year’s SNP leadership race to replace Humza Yousaf and instead threw his backing behind eventual winner Mr Swinney.
As Mr Flynn is not an MSP, it would have been difficult to become first minister at Holyrood.
However, the potential move to the Scottish parliament would put him on the right track towards Scotland’s top job.
When asked by the Press and Journal about his leadership hopes, Mr Flynn said: “I don’t think the SNP is going to have a leadership contest for very many years.
“I’m fully confident in the manner in which John Swinney is rebuilding the party and refocusing government.
“I appreciate the desire that many people have to speculate in and around what my ambitions are or aren’t.
“Of course I want to do everything I possibly can to help my party and help my country and that will never change.”
Pic: PA
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The deadline for applications to be considered for selection as an SNP candidate for the next Scottish parliament election closed on Monday, but the formal selection process will not begin until next year.
Mr Flynn said it “didn’t fill him with any great delight” to go up against sitting MSP Audrey Nicoll for selection to the Aberdeen South and North Kincardine constituency.
When contacted by Sky News, Ms Nicoll said: “As a constituency MSP, my focus will remain to work tirelessly for constituents regardless of any internal party selection processes.
“I look forward to any contest, where of course it will be for branch members to select those they wish to represent them in Holyrood in the 2026 Scottish parliament elections.”
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Ahead of the 2021 Scottish election, the SNP changed internal rules to require MPs to resign their seat at Westminster to fight for selection to Holyrood.
This led to then MP Joanna Cherry to pull out of the selection contest for the Edinburgh Central seat, and at the time she said the rule change “hobbled” her in her Holyrood selection bid.
Mr Flynn said he believed party rules were “election-specific”.
Ms Cherry, who lost her Westminster seat in July, wished Mr Flynn well but said the SNP rule against dual mandates was “person specific”.
Posting on X, she added: “It served its purpose and I predict it will be removed.”
In his column, Mr Flynn said he would have to “box smarter and work even harder” as he pointed to examples of SNP politicians who have held seats in both parliaments before, citing Mr Swinney and the late former first minister Alex Salmond.
He added: “I’m positive about the prospect of walking the path they previously trod.”
Millionaire Tory donor Malcolm Offord has defected to Reform UK, saying he would be campaigning “tirelessly” to “remove this rotten SNP government”.
Nigel Farage announced the former Conservative life peer’s defection during a rally in the Scottish town of Falkirk, where regular anti-immigration protests have taken place outside the Cladhan Hotel – which is being used to house asylum seekers.
Mr Farage, Reform UK’s leader, said he was “delighted” to welcome Greenock-born Lord Offord to Reform, describing his defection as “a brave and historic act”.
He added: “He will take Reform UK Scotland to a new level.”
During a speech, Lord Offord, who previously donated nearly £150,000 to the Tories, said he would be quitting the Conservative Party and giving up his place in the House of Lords as he prepares to campaign for a seat in Holyrood in May.
The 61-year-old said he wanted to restore Scotland to a “prosperous, happy, healthy country”.
“Scotland needs Reform and Reform is coming to Scotland,” he told the rally.
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“Today I can announce that I am resigning from the Conservative Party. Today I am joining Reform UK and today I announce my intention to stand for Reform in the Holyrood election in May next year.
“And that means that from today, for the next five months, day and night, I shall be campaigning with all of you tirelessly for two objectives.
“The first objective is to remove this rotten SNP government after 18 years, and the second is to present a positive vision for Scotland inside the UK, to restore Scotland to being a prosperous, proud, healthy and happy country.”
The latest defection comes as Mr Farage finds himself at the centre of allegations of racism dating back to his time in school.
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Claims made against Nigel Farage
Sky News reported on Saturday that a former schoolfriend of Mr Farage claimed he sang antisemitic songs to Jewish schoolmates – and had a “big issue with anyone called Patel”.
Jean-Pierre Lihou, 61, was initially friends with the Reform UK leader when he arrived at Dulwich College in the 1970s, at the time when Mr Farage is accused of saying antisemitic and other racist remarks by more than a dozen pupils.
Mr Farage has said he “never directly racially abused anybody” at Dulwich and said there is a “strong political element” to the allegations coming out 49 years later.
Reform’s deputy leader Richard Tice has called the ex-classmates “liars”.
A Reform UK spokesman accused Sky News of “scraping the barrel” and being “desperate to stop us winning the next election”.
The European Commission’s proposal to expand the powers of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) is raising concerns about the centralization of the bloc’s licensing regime, despite signaling deeper institutional ambitions for its capital markets structure.
On Thursday, the Commission published a package proposing to “direct supervisory competences” for key pieces of market infrastructure, including crypto-asset service providers (CASPs), trading venues and central counterparties to ESMA, Cointelegraph reported.
Concerningly, the ESMA’s jurisdiction would extend to both the supervision and licensing of all European crypto and financial technology (fintech) firms, potentially leading to slower licensing regimes and hindering startup development, according to Faustine Fleuret, head of public affairs at decentralized lending protocol Morpho.
“I am even more concerned that the proposal makes ESMA responsible for both the authorisation and the supervision of CASPs, not only the supervision,” she told Cointelegraph.
The proposal still requires approval from the European Parliament and the Council, which are currently under negotiation.
If adopted, ESMA’s role in overseeing EU capital markets would more closely resemble the centralized framework of the US Securities and Exchange Commission, a concept first proposed by European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde in 2023.
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EU plan to centralize licensing under ESMA creates crypto and fintech slowdown concerns
The proposal to “centralize” this oversight under a single regulatory body seeks to address the differences in national supervisory practices and uneven licensing regimes, but risks slowing down overall crypto industry development, Elisenda Fabrega, general counsel at Brickken asset tokenization platform, told Cointelegraph.
“Without adequate resources, this mandate may become unmanageable, leading to delays or overly cautious assessments that could disproportionately affect smaller or innovative firms.”
“Ultimately, the effectiveness of this reform will depend less on its legal form and more on its institutional execution,” including ESMA’s operational capacity, independence and cooperation “channels” with member states, she said.
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The broader package aims to boost wealth creation for EU citizens by making the bloc’s capital markets more competitive with those of the US.
The US stock market is worth approximately $62 trillion, or 48% of the global equity market, while the EU stock market’s cumulative value sits around $11 trillion, representing 9% of the global share, according to data from Visual Capitalist.
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