SNP MP Mhairi Black: I have never had a proper conversation with Nicola Sturgeon
2 min read
SNP firebrand Mhairi Black has revealed she has never had a proper conversation with Nicola Sturgeon and was given style tips by Alex Salmond.
The Paisley and Renfrewshire South MP said the SNP needs a “kick up the backside” to ensure it offers future candidates more support than she received on entering politics.
She said she got little support from the party when in May 2015 she became the youngest member of parliament in three centuries at the age of 20-years-old.
Astonishingly, she said she has never had a one-to-one conversation with party leader and Scottish First Minister Ms Sturgeon.
“She came down to greet us all but no, we’ve not had that kind of chat,” Ms Black told Holyrood magazine, a sister title to PoliticsHome.
“The only time that I really sort of had a conversation with her was when she asked me to do the youth stuff during the Scottish elections, but other than that, no.
“I mean, we’ve been at public things and meet and greets but nothing special.”
Ms Black added: “I think things should change and that it might be an idea for Nicola to take the time to talk to folk or whatever. But I hope that someone else further down the line does have a different experience to me.
“There should be more care… I think that’s an area where the party does need a kick up the backside, especially given the kind of caring ethos that we like to preach in the party.”
'SALMOND STYLE ADVICE'
And in a bizarre revelation, she said former first minister Mr Salmond offered her style tips and said then-fellow MP Tasmina Ahmed Sheik could take her shopping.
“I was just sitting chatting away to him and the whole time I’m thinking, what’s the point of this meant to be – is this a date, do I need to come out to Alex Salmond?” she said.
“It was fine, really, he was just giving me tips here and there and then he says, ‘I’m sure Taz will take you out to go shopping or something at some point and you’ll find your own style’.”
“He then said that the last time he’d had this conversation it was with a young woman called Nicola Sturgeon.
“I thought, ‘oh, very good’ and I just left the awkward silence hanging when he asked me if I wanted him to arrange it with Taz. I’m like, ‘I am never going to be told how to dress, especially by a man.’”
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