Stephen Mark Flynn (born 13 October 1988) is a Scottish politician who has served as the leader of the

Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party (SNP; sco, Scots National Pairty, gd, Pàrtaidh Nàiseanta na h-Alba ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic political party in Scotland. The SNP supports and campaigns for Scottish independence from ...

(SNP) in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

since December 2022. He has been the

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP) for Aberdeen South since the 2019 general election. In December 2022, Flynn announced his intention to run in

the election ''The Election'' () is a political drama series produced by Hong Kong Television Network (HKTV). With a budget of HK$15 million, filming started in July 2014 and wrapped up on 28 October 2014. Popularly voted to be the inaugural drama of ...

to succeed

Ian Blackford Ian Blackford (born 14 May 1961) is a Scottish politician who served as Leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) in the House of Commons from 2017 to 2022. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ross, Skye and Lochaber since 2015. Or ...

as the SNP Westminster leader. He defeated

Alison Thewliss Alison Emily Thewliss (born 13 September 1982) is a Scottish National Party (SNP) politician. She has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Glasgow Central since the May 2015 general election. Before being elected to Westminster, Thewliss wa ...

to become leader.

Early life

Flynn was born in Dundee and was schooled in both Brechin and Dundee. An alumnus of the

University of Dundee The University of Dundee; . Abbreviated as ''Dund.'' for post-nominals. is a public university, public research university based in Dundee, Scotland. It was founded as a University college#United Kingdom, university college in 1881 with a donation ...

, he obtained both an MA (Hons) in the study of History & Politics, an

MLitt The Master of Letters degree (MLitt or LittM; Latin ' or ') is a postgraduate degree. Ireland Trinity College Dublin and Maynooth University offer MLitt degrees. Trinity has offered them the longest, owing largely to its tradition as Ireland ...

in the study of International Politics & Security Studies, and an MSc in Global Shipping Management.

Political career

Official portrait of Stephen Flynn crop 2

Flynn was first elected to Aberdeen City Council for the Kincorth/Nigg/Cove Ward in 2015 and served as leader of the SNP group on Aberdeen City Council from 2016 till his election to Parliament in 2019. He succeeded

Ross Thomson Ross Thomson (born 21 September 1987) is a former Scottish Conservative Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Aberdeen South from June 2017 to November 2019. Thomson was the first Conservative MP elected for Aberdeen South ...

as MP for Aberdeen South, who announced in November 2019 that he would not contest the seat. Following his election, Flynn was immediately appointed to the role of Shadow Chief Financial Secretary to the Treasury. Flynn was promoted to the front bench in February 2021 as SNP Spokesperson for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

SNP Westminster leader

Following Ian Blackford's announcement on 1 December 22 that—at the Westminster Group's next AGM—he intended to stand down as the Westminster Group Leader, Flynn announced candidacy and succeeded him on 6 December. Flynn was elected by fellow Scottish National Party MPs, returning a 26-17 majority over candidate

. Initial speculation of a 'hostile takeover' by Flynn was denied by Flynn and Blackford, as well as SNP Party Leader Nicola Sturgeon, who insisted that "it's not a coup".

PMQs

Flynn made his debut PMQs appearance on 7 December, praising Blackford for his lengthy service and questioning

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Rishi Sunak Rishi Sunak (; born 12 May 1980) is a British politician who has served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party since October 2022. He previously held two Cabinet of ...

on the energy crisis and Scottish independence.

Personal life

Flynn is a supporter of Dundee United Football Club and named

Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American singer and songwriter. He has released 21 studio albums, most of which feature his backing band, the E Street Band. Originally from the Jersey Shore, he is an originat ...

as his dream dinner guest. Flynn has suffered from a serious condition called

avascular necrosis Avascular necrosis (AVN), also called osteonecrosis or bone infarction, is death of bone tissue due to interruption of the blood supply. Early on, there may be no symptoms. Gradually joint pain may develop which may limit the ability to move. C ...

since his teens and underwent surgery for it in 2020.

References

External links

Profile
on SNP website * 1988 births Living people Alumni of the University of Dundee Councillors in Aberdeen Politicians from Dundee Scottish National Party councillors Scottish National Party MPs UK MPs 2019–present {{Scotland-UK-MP-stub