Mhairi Black: I hate depressing Westminster

Mhairi Black, the UK's youngest MP, says she might leave the House of Commons for good when her term is up after becoming disillusioned with Westminster politics.

Black, who was just 20 when she was elected in 2015, told the Sunday Post newspaper she "hates" Westminster and is frustrated by the slow-moving political process.

“It has been nearly two years and I still hate the place," she said, adding that "so little gets done" because of "old and defunct" parliamentary procedures.

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Asked if she would stand for re-election in 2020, she replied: "I don't know."

Comments about her age, the weekly commute between London and Paisley and being thrown together with "quite troubling" Westminster colleagues had taken a personal toll, she added.

Black became the youngest MP in 350 years when she overturned Douglas Alexander's 16,000 majority to win the previously safe Labour seat of Paisley and Renfrewshire South for the Scottish National Party, one of the most talked-about electoral feats of the 2015 vote.

Since then, she has become renowned for her passionate and outspoken contributions to Commons debates. Her maiden speech, in which she attacked the Tories' austerity measures, racked up more than ten million views online.

Nonetheless, despite her heated attacks on the government, Black has formed some surprising friendships on the other side of the aisle - Jacob Rees-Mogg, the arch-Conservative nicknamed "the honourable member for the early 20th century", among them.

The MP for North-East Somerset was her "favourite", she said, jokingly referring to him as her "boyfriend".

Black added: "I get on quite well with a lot of the Labour old guard and quite a few Tories actually.

“It’s the kind of place where, if you are reasonable with folk then they will soften a little."

Her interview has attracted comment from other MPs and activist groups on Twitter, both applauding and criticising her unvarnished take on Westminster.

Tories Nicholas Soames and Jackson Carlaw took issue with her complaints about what they called the "privilege" of serving in parliament.

However, others sympathised with Black's frustration with the political process.