TOMMY Sheppard last night announced he was withdrawing from the race to become the SNP’s new Westminster leader, leaving Joanna Cherry as the bookie’s favourite.
Cherry is up against Ian Blackford, and Drew Hendry in the race to succeed Angus Robertson, who lost his seat in the House of Commons in Thursday’s general election. The winner will be announced tonight.
Sheppard, who had put his name forward for the position on Monday, withdrew yesterday, saying it was clear he did not have “majority support for becoming leader”.
“As it should be this is a closed election amongst 35 parliamentarians who know each other well. And whilst politics is important it is not the only factor at play in how people make this decision.”
He added: “The message is more important than the messenger and so I have decided not to contest the election for group leader. I will instead seek assurances from the remaining candidates about the priorities for the months ahead and I will hope to persuade them of the need for a radical review of how we do things.”
Sheppard had argued that the SNP needed to focus on its ”left flank” and “take the battle to Labour in Scotland”.
“The SNP is Scotland’s radical voice”, he argued, and needed to “show that Corbyn’s Labour isn’t nearly as exciting as many have come to believe by pushing on nuclear disarmament, immigration, electoral reform and constitutional change.”
Ladbrokes have Cherry on evens, with Blackford and Hendry on three to one. Sheppard had been the outsider on five to one.
“Maybe Cherry has an advantage being the only woman in the field, but Angus Robertson has left some tough shoes to fill,” a Ladbrokes spokesperson said.
Robertson lost the Moray seat he had held since 2001 to Douglas Ross of the Scottish Conservatives in the one most high profile defeats of the night.
The SNP won 35 seats in last week’s election, down 21 from 2015, with the Tories, Labour and the Liberal Democrats all making gains across Scotland.
Stewart Hosie, the party’s deputy leader at Westminster, took on the leader’s duties as MPs re-elected John Bercow as the Speaker of the House of Commons. The Dundee MP, who is seeking reelection as the SNP’s Commons deputy leader, paid tribute to colleagues lost and made an appeal for less anger in politics.
“Whether we take a different view on the constitution, on Brexit, on social policy, on tax and spend, these are simply the different opinions of political opponents, not enemies.”
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