Ian Blackford clings to power following attempted coup

Last night was shaping up to be a night of the long sgian dubhs for the SNP’s Westminster leader Ian Blackford. SNP backbenchers have grown unhappy with Blackford’s leadership after several scandals during his tenure. Yesterday a challenge briefly emerged from Aberdeen South MP Stephen Flynn, though Blackford has managed to survive the attempted coup. 

Flynn has reportedly been on manoeuvres against Blackford for months. Yesterday he made his move, informing the party’s compliance officer Ian McCann he planned to challenge Blackford at the Westminster group’s AGM in December. The next step of the plan was for a gang of so-called men in grey kilts, led by culture spokesman Brendan O’Hara, to tell their leader he had to go before the meeting. Despite MPs privately briefing that they would be happy with ‘anyone but Blackford’, the Daily Telegraph understands the challenge has been killed off. Before an appearance on Question Time last night, Blackford reportedly managed to persuade Flynn to withdraw his challenge.