Copyright dailyrecord
An SNP MP tipped to be a future First Minister has said he will serve John Swinney in “whatever” capacity if he gets elected to Holyrood . Stephen Flynn, who leads the Nationalists at Westminster, is contesting a seat in Aberdeen next year . Party sources believe he and housing minister Mairi McAllan are the most likely candidates in any future SNP leadership contest . In an interview, Flynn said he would put himself at the behest of the First Minister if elected. “I will do whatever is asked of me by the First Minister, irrespective of what that is,” he said. “If that is sitting on the back benches and bringing some life to some of the debates in Holyrood, I’m up for that. “If it’s sitting on committees and scrutinising the work of the Government, I think I’m relatively effective in that context. “If it’s sitting and engaging with (journalists) to sell the message to the people of Scotland, I’m quite happy to do that as well.” While Flynn hopes to make it to Holyrood next year, a number of experienced SNP MSPs are standing down. These include Cabinet Secretaries like Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes, Finance Secretary Shona Robison and Transport Secretary Fiona Hyslop. Despite vacancies around the Cabinet table, Flynn refused to say if there were any jobs he had his eye on. His comments come just over a week after the SNP set its independence strategy of pushing for an outright majority after the election. Swinney has said such an outcome would be a mandate for indyref2. Flynn said: “What greater motivation could there be for independence supporters in Scotland than to recognise how important that majority now is?” “Now we need to get on and deliver it.” He added: “I’m confident about our chances in that context… and we have to be confident. “We’ve got to sense that there’s an enormous opportunity here to completely transform people’s lives and to escape from what is broken, Brexit Britain.” To sign up to the Daily R ecord Politics newsletter, click here
