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An SNP Westminster MP has defected to the Conservatives, dealing a fresh blow to Scotland’s ruling party, just a week after it suffered a crushing defeat by Labor in a by-election.
Lisa Cameron, the MP for East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lythmahargo, told the Daily Mail that she was left behind because of “toxic and bullying” treatment from colleagues. She has quit the pro-independence Scottish National Party.
Cameron’s defection is the latest sign of the challenges facing Scotland’s First Minister Humza Youssef, who is seeking to reunite a party that has been in crisis since the resignation of his predecessor Nicola Sturgeon. Police investigation into SNP finances mired in trouble. .
Sturgeon denied any wrongdoing and was arrested and questioned by police in June. The investigation is ongoing and no charges have been filed.
The SNP, which has been in power in Scotland since 2007, suffered a wider-than-expected defeat to Labor in by-elections in Rutherglen and Hamilton West, just outside Glasgow, last week.
The Rutherglen vote was triggered by the removal of former SNP MP Margaret Ferrier for breaching Covid-19 regulations in 2020.
Cameron’s defection would reduce the SNP’s Scottish seats at Westminster to 43 and increase the Conservatives’ hold to seven. Labour’s victory in Rutherglen brought the tally to two votes.
It could also create a mood of pessimism when SNP members hold the party’s annual conference in Aberdeen on Sunday.
The MP faces an internal selection process ahead of next year’s Westminster election after taking conservative stances on social issues such as abortion.
She also opposed the Scottish Government’s attempts to make it easier for trans people to legally change their gender.
The SNP often portrays itself as a center-left alternative to its Westminster rivals.
“This is just one of many issues and divisions that are surfacing right now,” said James Mitchell, professor of public policy at the University of Edinburgh.
The SNP has held Scottish seats at Westminster since it replaced Labor in 2015. The shift comes after a failed independence referendum in 2014 galvanized pro-Brexit voters.
Labor hopes to win more seats from the SNP at next year’s general election.
Yousaf told the Financial Times this week that he would use the upcoming SNP conference as an opportunity to heal divisions within the party, stressing that the party’s main goal was to secure Soute independence.
“I have an unwavering belief that Scotland’s future is better in Scots hands… How do we ensure that we don’t forget what unites us? If we are weaker as a party, the cause of independence will be weaker and, therefore, we We have to unite,” he said in an interview.
SNP chairman Michael Russell declined to comment on Thursday on Cameron’s defection.
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