A new SNP MP has been accused of ‘faking’ a Scottish accent when she was sworn in at Westminster and crossed her fingers when pledging allegiance to the King.
Lara Bird, 28, the SNP’s new Arbroath and Broughty Ferry representative in the Commons, provoked a backlash with her gesture.
And she has now faced scrutiny over her accent, with videos widely shared online in which many say she sounds more English than Scottish.
Social media users have highlighted a video posted to her Instagram account in January this year, discussing clashes between the US and Venezuela.
She sounded similar in an interview with the British Palestine Project when calling for a ‘recognition of their state, a state that already exists, a state that has existed for longer than the state of Israel has’.
Yet there was a distinctly more Scottish-sounding burr when telling the Commons during her swearing-in, where she declared: ‘I take this oath only so that I can serve the people of Arbroath and Broughty Ferry.
‘My first allegiance is and always will be to the sovereign people of Scotland.’
She then raised her hand and crossed her fingers before reading out the oath regarding the King, reciting: ‘I do swear that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to his heirs and successors, according to the law, so help me God.’
New SNP MP Lara Bird crossed her fingers at her swearing-in at the Commons on Monday
Ms Bird, 28, won the Arbroath and Broughty Ferry by-election held on June 18 – she has faced scrutiny and criticism over her shifting accent on different occasions
Official SNP policy is the retention of the royal family in an independent Scotland.
There have been calls for Speaker Lindsay Hoyle to make her take the oath again properly, while her actions were also described as ‘childish’.
Thomas Heald, Scottish Conservative councillor for Dunblane and Bridge of Allan, posted online: ‘Childish attention seeking.
‘You are of course entitled to your view on the institutions but out of respect for the office you now hold I would have expected better from you. But then again…’
The Scottish Tories’ deputy leader Rachael Hamilton said: ‘This new SNP MP needs to grow up.
‘Crossing her fingers while taking the oath was a cringeworthy student politics stunt.
‘A cynic might question whether her attempt to disguise her accent is a reaction to the anti-English feelings many within the SNP harbour.’
The new MP, full name Pyla Lard Bird-Leakey, grew up in Kirriemuir, in Angus in Scotland – with former military officer and diplomat Charles Bird as her father and an English mother.
Scotland’s First Minister John Swinney is seen with new SNP MP Lara Bird during constituency visits last Friday following her by-election success
After attending the fee-paying High School of Dundee, she studied at the London School of Economics then worked for the SNP at Westminster.
She was studying for a PhD at King’s College London but dropped this when deciding to run for the Arbroath and Broughty Ferry seat in Parliament.
Discussing her varying tones, Ms Bird told Scottish newspaper the Courier earlier this month: ‘I think I probably just picked up a bit of an accent when I was there and because I’ve grown up with an English side of my family.
‘But when I come back to Dundee, the Dundonian accent comes back a wee bit stronger and it is just one of those things, I think.’
Ms Bird won the by-election last Thursday with a majority of 5,278, with the Conservatives’ Jack Cruickshanks second and Bill Reid of Reform UK close behind in third.
Stephen Gethin, her predecessor as MP for the constituency, had resigned in May after being elected as an MSP in the Scottish Parliament at Holyrood.
His majority when winning the Arbroath and Broughty Ferry seat at the July 2024 general election was 859.
Ahead of last Thursday’s by-election, Reform UK’s Scotland leader Malcolm Offord posted on X: ‘Forget Makerfield, the real drama’s in Arbroath, where the SNP candidate is putting on a fake Scottish accent.’
Lara Bird shook hands with Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle after being sworn in as an MP
The SNP has now said in response: ‘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.’
And in a statement about her crossed-fingers gesture, Ms Bird 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 & 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.’
