SNP defends new MP accused of putting on 'fake' Scottish accent

Lara Bird, who won the Arbroath and Broughty Ferry by-election last week, has been the subject of online criticism after a recent video surfaced in which she is heard speaking with an English accent.

When she was sworn in as an MP on Monday, this had shifted to a Dundonian accent.

The comedian Matt Forde, who regularly does political impressions, joked it was “an attack on my business model”.

“Woah… there’s only room for one English person doing dodgy Scottish accents in the political arena,” he wrote on X.

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Malcolm Offord, the leader of Reform UK in Scotland, was among those who took aim at Ms Bird.

"Forget Makerfield, the real drama’s in Arbroath, where the SNP candidate is putting on a fake Scottish accent," he wrote on X ahead of last week’s by-election, which was held on the same day as the Greater Manchester vote won by Andy Burnham.

Ms Bird, who was born Pyla Lara Bird-Leakey, grew up in Kirriemuir and attended the fee-paying High School of Dundee before moving to London where she studied at the London School of Economics and King's College London.

The 28-year-old also worked for the SNP in Westminster.

She previously told The Courier she had “probably just picked up a bit of an accent” while living in London, while her mother is also English.

“But when I come back to Dundee, the Dundonian accent comes back a wee bit stronger,” she said. “It is just one of those things I think.”

An SNP spokesperson said: "Lara Bird MP is half-Scottish, half-English. She grew up in Scotland and has also lived in England.

"Unlike Nigel Farage's Reform Party, the SNP doesn't judge people on their accents or where they come from.

"Nor do the people of Arbroath and Broughty Ferry, who elected Lara Bird MP with a majority of 5,278 votes, while the Reform Party trailed behind in a distant third place.

"While Malcolm Offord spends his time poking fun at women's accents, Lara Bird MP is getting on with the job she was elected to do - demanding more help for families with the cost of living, more investment in our local communities and respect for Scotland's democratic right to choose our own future with independence."

Ms Bird also attracted controversy after crossing her fingers while swearing allegiance to King Charles as part of Monday’s ceremony.

“I take this oath only so I can serve the people of Arbroath and Broughty Ferry,” she said beforehand. “My first allegiance is, and always will be, the sovereign people of Scotland.”

In a statement afterwards, she said: "On my first day in the job I wanted to make very clear that my true commitment and allegiance will always be to my constituents here and more widely to the people of Scotland.

"I made it clear in my campaign that I entered politics to serve my local community and my country and that's what I intend to do every single day that I am honoured to be elected to serve the people of Arbroath and Broughty Ferry.

"I'm not the first MP to have done this and I'm confident I won't be the last – it's pretty telling though that the Westminster establishment find it so offensive that a new MP would pledge allegiance to her constituents."