SNP Westminster group leader to be announced

Tommy Sheppard - Parliament

SNP MPs will choose who will lead their group in Commons today, including taking on the role of speaking for the party at Prime Minister’s Questions.

The position is currently vacant after Angus Robertson lost his Moray seat at the general election to the Conservatives.

Four MPs put their name forward for the job, but Edinburgh East MP Tommy Sheppard has since withdrawn.

The party will choose between Ross, Skye and Lochaber MP Ian Blackford, Edinburgh South West MP Joanna Cherry and Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey MP Drew Hendry.

All three were elected in 2015.

Sheppard withdrew from the race after it became clear he did not have the necessary support within the group.

In a blog on Facebook, Sheppard said the SNP needed to focus on its radical credentials or face losing more support to Jeremy Corbyn’s revived Labour party.

“Not only did we lose seats to Labour but most of the ones we held are now Labour/SNP marginal,” he said.

“We need to win these voters back and we might not have long to do it. In my view this means our priority should be to focus on our left flank and take the battle to Labour in Scotland. The SNP is Scotland’s radical voice. We need to assert that.”