‘There should be much more urgency about trying to change the direction Britain’s going’
Words: Steven Mackenzie
The last decade of Mhairi Black’s life tells a story of the last decade of UK politics.
The activist in her was awakened during campaigning for the independence referendum in 2014; the SNP may have lost the vote but they went on to win 56 out of 59 Scottish seats at the 2015 general election. At age 20, Black became the youngest MP in 200 years, representing Paisley and Renfrewshire South while she still had a final exam to sit to complete her Politics and Public Policy degree.
The independence campaign switched younger generations onto politics in Scotland, but it shifted debates towards identity and ideology in a way that exposed divisions in communities and families that didn’t seem to exist before. Then the whole of the UK got to enjoy a similar, even more intense experience through the Brexit campaign, vote and continuing fallout.
Through Brexit, then Covid, years of austerity evolving into a crippling cost of living crisis, handled or not by a literal handful of prime ministers, Black has enjoyed a ringside seat. And it’s worn her out.
“I’m tired,” she said last summer when she announced that she wouldn’t be standing at the next election (whenever that may be). “And the thing that makes me tired is Westminster. I think it is one of the most unhealthy workplaces that you could ever be in. It is a toxic environment.”
The Big Issue visited her office in Paisley, seven miles outside Glasgow, to find out how her expectations of parliament contrasted with her experiences, what stops government making positive differences in people’s lives and what it means for the future.
THE BIG ISSUE: What’s a typical day in the life like? MHAIRI BLACK: Genuinely, no two days are the same. It’s always unpredictable. Normally in London, Monday ’til Wednesday or Thursday then Fridays are constituency days.
Does the balance feel right?
Not for me. I would rather spend more time in the constituency than in London. But given the nature of how parliament works in practice, you need to be there.
How do you feel when you’re here compared to when you’re in London?
Much more comfortable. I’m dealing with what I label ‘normal people’, folk who speak my language and will knock you down to earth very quickly if you’re too full of your own importance. Every time I’m back home, it reminds me why I’m doing the job.
