The last few months have been a period of change for SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford. The waistcoat-wearing MP for Ross, Skye and Lochaber placed one of his two Skye homes on sales for £400,000 and quit his £39,000-a-year directorship of Golden Charter – the investment firm which gets its money from pre-paid funeral plans. The company caused Blackford a fair amount of embarrassment last year after it was revealed to have bemoaned how ‘excess deaths’ caused by Covid meant it had to hand over more than usual to cover the costs of customers’ funerals and cremations. Classy.
Now such Gordon Gekko antics are behind the former investment banker. Instead, Blackford has returned to reiterating his claims to being merely a ‘humble crofter,’ provoking much laughter at PMQs in May after stating he was simply a ‘member of Scotland’s crofter community.’ The refrain from the former SNP treasurer is one heard infrequently over the years – in 2018 he told a Budget debate that he was ‘just a simple crofter with 10 acres,’ promoting fellow former financier Greg Hands to retort: ‘I had a career in the City and I don’t recall him being a simple crofter at that time.
Comments
Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just $5 for 3 monthsAlready a subscriber? Log in