MPs vote to ban Margaret Ferrier from Commons for 30 days

MPs have voted to suspend Margaret Ferrier from the Commons for 30 days for breaching Covid lockdown rules.

The move will almost certainly lead to a by-election in her Rutherglen and Hamilton West constituency.

Ferrier won the seat for the SNP with a majority of 5,230 in the 2019 election but has been sitting as an independent since losing the party whip.

It would be an early electoral test for new SNP leader Humza Yousaf, with Labour hopeful of winning the seat.

Ferrier has already been ordered to complete a 270-hour community payback order by a court after admitting culpably and recklessly exposing the public "to the risk of infection, illness and death".

She spoke in parliament while awaiting the results of a Covid test during lockdown in September 2020, then took a train home to Glasgow to avoid self-isolating in a London hotel after learning she had tested positive.

She has previously said she "deeply regretted" her actions but has so far refused to resign as an MP despite facing repeated calls to do so from many of her former SNP colleagues.

The party's David Linden said: "There must now be a by-election, which the SNP has been calling for since Ms Ferrier's Covid rule breach first came to light in 2020."

MPs voted by 185 to 40 in favour of suspending Ferrier from parliament for 30 days.

This means a recall petition can now be started. More than 10% of registered voters in the constituency will need to sign the petition for a by-election to be held.

Opinion polls have suggested that support for the SNP has fallen in recent months against a backdrop of Nicola Sturgeon resigning as first minister and party leader, and the ongoing police investigation into the party's finances.