Glasgow East MP David Linden resigns from SNP's frontbench team at Westminster

David Linden has resigned from the SNP’s frontbench team at Westminster.

The Glasgow East MP made the announcement on Tuesday evening.

In a statement, he said he wants to focus more of his time on his constituency.

The party’s former deputy leader in the Commons, Kirsty Blackman, is to take over Linden’s brief as the SNP’s spokesperson on work and pensions.

It's been a privilege to serve on the SNP frontbench in Westminster, but I've decided to step down in order to focus more of my time on constituency casework. 1/2 pic.twitter.com/ZNhmtg4tvv
— David Linden MP (@DavidLinden) March 29, 2022

Linden highlighted the cost of living crisis in making his decision to spend more time on constituency work.

He said: “It’s been a privilege to serve on the SNP frontbench in Westminster, but I’ve decided to step down in order to focus more of my time on constituency casework.

“12 years of Tory austerity has already hammered the very poorest in our communities – and the current cost of living crisis is only making that even worse, so I want to focus all my efforts on dealing more with day to day constituency work.”

Speaking following her appointment to the role, Blackman said she is looking forward to holding the UK Government to account.

“I am delighted to be returning to the frontbench to take on my new role as the SNP’s shadow secretary of state for work and pensions at Westminster,” said Blackman.

“I look forward to working to hold this Tory Gov to account over their damaging policies which have targeted the most vulnerable in society and pushed many more people into hardship – as well as using my role to be a strong voice for the people of Scotland at Westminster.”