Mhairi Black: I may not stand as MP in '˜defunct' Westminster again

Britain's youngest MP has said she may not stand for a second term because she finds Westminster 'depressing'.

Mhairi Black has described Westminster as 'old and defunct' (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

Mhairi Black, who won Paisley and Renfrewshire South for the SNP from Labour’s Douglas Alexander in 2015, says she finds parliament “old and defunct.”

In an interview with the Sunday Post newspaper, Ms Black revealed her frustrations at working in Westminster.

She said: “It is depressing. It is the personal elements – it is a pain to come up and down every week and you are working with a number of people you find quite troubling.

“Professionally, it is more just that so little gets done. It is so old and defunct in terms of its systems and procedures – a lot of the time, it is just a waste of time.”

When she was asked by the newspaper if she would seek re-election at the next parliamentary elections, she answered: “I don’t know. I think you should only stand in politics if you think there is a need for you to be in it.”

She did say she would be involved in the event of a second vote on Scottish independence, explaining: “I would do whatever I need to do. It is why I got into this whole game, so ate I would. Independence is going to happen. I don’t know who, I don’t know when, but it is going to happen. All roads point to it.”

In the interview she revealed that despite her views on Westminster she had made friends there.

“I get on quite well with a lot of the Labour old guard and quite a few Tories actually,” she said. “There is my boyfriend – Jacob Rees-Mogg. He’s my favourite. It’s the kind of place where, if you are reasonable with folk then they will soften a little.”