MICHAEL Matheson has applied to stand as a candidate for the SNP at the next Holyrood election.
It is being reported the former health secretary – who was forced to leave the Government after racking up an £11,000 iPad roaming bill while on holiday in Morocco – has submitted an application for vetting.
Matheson was ejected from the Scottish Parliament for 27 sitting days and had his pay docked for 54 days over the bill he ran up on a parliamentary iPad while away with his family in 2022. It was the harshest sanction ever handed down by the Scottish Parliament to one of its members.
He eventually admitted that his teenage sons had used the iPad to watch football despite previously telling reporters there was no personal use of the tablet. He repaid the £11,000 claim.
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Toni Giugliano, who was defeated in the July General Election in the Westminster seat that overlaps with Matheson’s Holyrood constituency, blamed the former health secretary for the country’s largest majority being overturned by Labour.
It comes after SNP Westminster Stephen Flynn (below) announced he had put himself forward to stand for Holyrood in 2026.
He used a column in the Press and Journal to announce his bid to replace Audrey Nicoll as the MSP for Aberdeen South and North Kincardine.
Should he win election to Holyrood, Flynn said he would not resign his Westminster seat – but also that he would not take two parliamentary incomes.
However, it is understood that the rule was “election specific” and would have to be reinstated to take effect in 2026.
Former SNP ministers have urged Flynn to rethink his decision, including Emma Roddick and Alex Neil.
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