Westminster democracy 'broken' as 1 in 500 Scots have say in Prime Minister election, says SNP

The SNP have accused the current campaign to appoint a new UK Prime Minister as “ludicrous” as they claim only a very small number of Scots will have a say in who will govern the country.

SNP has accused Westminster democracy of being 'broken' as they claim only one in 500 Scots will have a say in the Conservative leadership election.

Today, Conservative MPs are to vote for the final time to decide on the two leadership candidates who should go through to the run-off vote among party members.

Rishi Sunak, Penny Mordaunt, and Liz Truss remain in the race after Kemi Badenoch was eliminated on Tuesday.

Scotland’s party in power, however, has accused the leadership race of exposing “how badly British democracy is broken”.

There are only 11,000 members of the Scottish Conservatives who will take part in the vote to choose their next party leader from the final two candidates.

In a population of 5.5million, the SNP has said that means only one in every 500 Scots has a say in who will govern the country.

Kenneth Gibson, SNP MSP said: “The recent Scottish Government papers refreshing the case for independence provide a wealth of evidence on how democracy in Britain is broken and this ludicrous leadership election is just the latest example.

“How as few as one in 500 Scots get a say in how Britain is governed and by whom is an outrage and should concern anyone who believes democracy is worth defending.

“The next leader of the Tories, like their previous two predecessors can - on their personal whim and spouting anti-democratic nonsense like ‘now is not the time’ - try to block Scotland’s democratic right to determine our own future to keep us shackled to corrosive Westminster control.

“The SNP was returned to power last year with a cast-iron mandate to hold a referendum and the Tory denial of that democratic reality makes an absolute mockery of the claim that the UK is a voluntary nation of equals. The people of Scotland have the right to choose our own future as a wealthier, fairer, happier independent country.”

In the leadership race, Mr Sunak is still the frontrunner, with Ms Mordaunt and Ms Truss vying for the second spot in the final round.

On Wednesday, MPs will vote between 1pm and 3pm with the result announced at 4pm.

Conservative Party members will then vote over the summer, with a result announced on 5 September.