AN SNP councillor has made the shock decision to quit her party and go it alone as an independent, the Telegraph can reveal.

Port Glasgow elected member Kirsty Law said the SNP had ‘lost its way’ as she confirmed her intention to resign from the organisation.

Speaking about her decision to leave, the ward two councillor cited concerns over her former party’s management of public finances as a key factor that motivated her to step away.

READ MORE: Inverclyde councillor Innes Nelson resigns from SNP

However, she said she hoped there would be no ill feeling between herself and her ‘dedicated’ former colleagues.

In a statement issued to the Telegraph, she added: “It is with a heavy heart I have decided to resign from the Scottish National Party.

“I have reached this conclusion because my political priorities no longer align with those of the party, therefore I feel that my position is unsustainable.

“This has been an extremely difficult decision, but ultimately one I feel is right for myself, my colleagues and my constituents.

“I would like to thank the local SNP elected members and activists for their support over the past two years.

“I leave assured in the knowledge that the branch is filled with individuals who care passionately about their community, their country and the wider world.

“I am grateful for the opportunity they have afforded me, to represent the community I have lived in all my life.

“I look forward to continuing to work together with my colleagues from all political parties and none, as an independent councillor, for the benefit of everyone in Inverclyde.”

When asked what motivated her decision to quit the party, councillor Law said: “The bottom line is I think we’ve not always acted prudently with public finances and the economic situation being as it is, I’m not naïve to the thinking that the previous UK Government was really culpable in lots of ways through things like Brexit.

“But I think at that point it was very important for us to demonstrate sound government and sound control of finances and I don’t think we always did that.”

Councillor Law was first elected to represent her ward of Inverclyde East Central in May 2022 and is the second member of Inverclyde Council’s SNP group to quit the party this year.

In April, the local authority’s longest-serving nationalist, councillor Innes Nelson, resigned after he was found guilty of flouting the ethical code for elected members.

The departures of Councillors Law and Nelson means the SNP now has just six members on Inverclyde’s 22-seat council, having started this council term with eight.

(Image: Newsquest)

SNP group leader Elizabeth Robertson said: “It’s a decision that Kirsty has made and it’s her decision.

“Details of the whys and wherefores are Kirsty’s to explain, we’re honouring her decision.”

When asked about the party’s position now that it had lost two councillors, she added: “Things happen, Kirsty has made this decision and Innes’s decision came on the back of what happened with him.

“These are things that I hadn’t foreseen, and I don’t think have been caused by the group in any way.

“It’s one of those situations where we have to work with the situation we’ve got.”