SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn has announced plans to stand in the 2026 Holyrood election.

Flynn was re-elected as MP for Aberdeen South in the general election in July.

He said if elected to the Scottish Parliament he would aim to hold on to his Westminster seat until the next general election in 2029 but would not accept two salaries.

Applications to become an SNP candidate in 2026 closed on Monday, but the official selection process will not start until next year.

BBC Scotland News understands former prime ministers Nicola Sturgeon and Humza Yousaf have applied but neither has yet decided whether to stand again.

Writing in the Press and Journal, Flynn confirmed that he “threw his tape into the ring.”

He said he hoped to win his party’s nomination for the Aberdeen South and North Kincardine seat currently held by Audrey Nicoll.

The SNP Westminster leader added: “I do not want to be left out of the coming battles our city, our region and our country will face at Holyrood.

He also said he hoped to help the SNP make a case for independence.

election war

Flynn told the Press and Journal it would “not give him great pleasure” to face Nicoll in the Aberdeen South and North Kincardine elections.

Nicoll, who was first elected to parliament in the 2021 election, said: “My focus as a constituency MSP will continue to be on working tirelessly for voters, regardless of internal party election processes.

“I look forward to any contests where branch members choose who they want to represent them at Holyrood in the 2026 Scottish Parliament elections.”

Ahead of the 2021 Holyrood election, the SNP changed internal rules to require MPs to resign their seats at Westminster to be elected to Holyrood.

This led to then MP Joanna Cherry. withdraw from the selection contest For the Edinburgh Central seat, he claimed the rule change had “hindered” him in his bid for election.

Health Minister Neil Gray also I had to resign from parliament Before being elected to Holyrood in 2021.

Flynn said he believes party rules are “election specific.”

In his column, he highlighted examples of SNP politicians who had previously held seats in both parliaments, citing First Minister John Swinney and former First Minister Alex Salmond.

The party has not yet decided what its rules will be for candidates in the next election.

Cherry, who lost her Westminster seat at the July general election and rejected a bid for election to Holyrood in 2026, said the SNP’s rule against dual mandates was “personal”.

Responding to Flynn’s column, In a post on X he added that the rule is: It “served its purpose” and predicted it would not be in effect until 2026.

It has been suggested that Flynn will be a future SNP leader, but he predicted there would be no contest to replace Swinney for “many years”, adding that he had full confidence in the first minister.

“I appreciate the desire of many people to speculate about what my passions may or may not be,” he told the Press and Journal.

“Of course I want to do everything I can to help my party and my country, and that will never change.”

SNP has been criticized before He branded former Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross as having “three jobs” as a professional football referee as well as holding seats at Westminster and Holyrood.

In 2021, SNP MSP Karen Adam warned Ross that being an MSP or MP was “very much a full-time job”.

He claimed he had “failed” his constituents by thinking he could do both jobs properly.

Few who follow Scottish politics will be surprised by Stephen Flynn’s decision.

He is widely regarded as one of the SNP’s most talented politicians. And Holyrood offers him opportunities that Westminster could never offer (such as becoming a government minister or – perhaps one day – first minister).

However, this is a controversial move in many respects.

Although other SNP politicians have previously sat simultaneously in Westminster and Holyrood, the party’s “double duty” rhetoric has hardened in recent years.

The party previously claimed former Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross was trying to “have his cake and eat it too” by sitting in both parliaments.

Flynn will now face the same charge.

Secondly, the seat in which Stephen Flynn is aiming to run is currently occupied by an SNP MSP. And he has not indicated that he plans to withdraw. So there seems to be an internal challenge.

To summarize, this is an expected move with some unexpected elements.