Scottish nationalist MP Margaret Ferrier who broke Covid rules is set to learn her fate as voters push to oust her after she was kicked out of the SNP
- Ex-SNP Margaret Ferrier traveled from Glasgow to London with Covid symptoms
- A petition to oust her as MP for Rutherglen and Hamilton West closes today
Disgraced MP Margaret Ferrier will learn her fate tomorrow as a petition giving her constituents the chance to kick her out finally closes today.
The former Nationalist MP pleaded guilty in court to ‘exposing the public ‘to the risk of infection, illness and death’ while travelling hundreds of miles across the country while infected with Covid.
She boarded a Glasgow to London train while suffering from symptoms of the virus in order to speak in a House of Commons debate – despite the rules in September 2020 requiring her to self-isolate.
Despite testing positive soon afterwards, she then travelled back by train alongside other commuters, and only came clean several days later.
Ms Ferrier, who was kicked out of the SNP for her reckless behaviour, was later banished from the Commons for 30 days for her flagrant and criminal behaviour.
Former SNP MP Margaret Ferrier pleaded guilty to exposing the public to ‘the risk of infection, illness and death’ after travelling from Glasgow to London with Covid-19
The punishment triggered Scotland’s first ever recall petition and if a tenth of her Rutherglen and Hamilton West constituents sign it she will be ousted as an MP.
The petition closes at 5pm today, with South Lanarkshire Council due to announce the result tomorrow.
If the threshold of voters required is met, Ms Ferrier will automatically be removed from office.
She could then contest a subsequent by-election, in the seat she won with a 5,230 majority for the SNP at the 2019 general election.
Both the Nationalists and Scottish Labour have selected candidates for a prospective by-election, in what would be the first real electoral test for new SNP leader Humza Yousaf.
Labour has launched an intensive campaign to try and trigger an election, as they hope to overturn the SNP majority amid the turmoil engulfing the Nationalists.
Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie said: ‘The people of Rutherglen and Hamilton West have been failed for too long – let down by two incompetent governments and left voiceless in Parliament by a rule-breaking MP.
‘This recall petition is a chance for people in the area to demand better and I urge all eligible voters to make sure their voices are heard by signing the petition.
‘Scottish Labour’s candidate Michael Shanks is ready to hit the ground running and be the champion his local area deserves.’
If the threshold of voters required is met, Margaret Ferrier (pictured) will automatically be removed from office
Despite a sizeable majority, the SNP are forecast to face an uphill challenge to retain the seat, with plummeting poll numbers sparked by Nicola Sturgeon’s resignation in March, the bitter leadership contest that followed and the police probe into party finances.
The SNP’s candidate Katy Loudon said: ‘With a Westminster-made cost-of-living crisis continuing to hammer households across Scotland, the people of Rutherglen and Hamilton West deserve an MP who will do everything they can to help them through these tough times.’
She added: ‘Only the SNP are offering voters a real alternative through independence – which would rid Scotland of Westminster control for good, and allow us to build a fairer, more prosperous country for all.’
There are seven locations throughout Rutherglen and Hamilton West for voters to demand Ms Ferrier’s removal.
Around 8,000 signatures are required to trigger a by-election.
If Ms Ferrier had quit as an MP on the day she admitted her rule breaking, taxpayers would have been saved from paying her salary and expenses of almost £600,000.
In the 977 days between her breach coming to light and her Commons suspension, the former SNP MP has been paid a total of £222,555 in salary alone.
And since April 2020, Ferrier has also racked up £339,044.90 in expenses for her accommodation in London, travel to and from Westminster and her office and staffing costs.
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