SNP MP Pete Wishart quits Westminster front bench after criticising new leader Stephen Flynn

dailyrecord.co.uk:

The SNP ’s longest serving MP has quit the front bench and taken a swipe at his party’s new Westminster leader. Pete Wishart told Stephen Flynn he was “bemused” by his decision to seek the leadership given support for independence is running at over 50 per cent.

In a letter brimming with sarcasm, he added: "Usually change of this significance accompanies failure, whereas we are looking only at sustained and growing success as a movement and party."Flynn succeeded Ian Blackford as SNP Westminster leader on Tuesday after weeks of speculation about his intentions.The Aberdeen South MP defeated Alison Thewlisss after Blackford resigned.Wishart, first elected in 2001, notified Flynn of his decision to quit as the group's Defra spokesperson.He said: “In my 21 years in parliament, I have served as spokesperson in a variety of front bench roles including as our Shadow Leader of the House and Chief Whip.“I have never had the opportunity to experience the delights of the backbench and I look forward to serving your leadership from there."He added: "I note that you hope to bring positive change to the way the group is run and that you wish to reset the relationship with colleagues in Government and in the Scottish Parliament."The latter, as I'm sure you are aware, is extremely important for the general culture within the party and I wish you well in these endeavours.

The Westminster group is unique in the respect that we are a party of power in a parliament, in which that power can never be exercised.In a pointed section of his resignation letter, he wrote:"Many of us carry the scars following the many attempts to manage that unfortunate tension over the course of the years. “I remain bemused as to the reasons why you felt it was