A 20-year-old University of Glasgow student is now the youngest British lawmaker in more than 300 years.
Mhairi Black, a self-proclaimed soccer fan and political geek, has been elected as a Member of Parliament for Paisley and Renfrewshire South, ousting Scottish Labour Party leader Douglas Alexander.
Thank you to everyone who turned out and voted for me and helping me win the Paisley and Renfrewshire South #voteSnP pic.twitter.com/nZqyO7C85G
— Mhairi Black (@mhairi1921) May 8, 2015
Black, representing the Scottish National Party, defeated Alexander by more than 6,000 votes, reports to The Telegraph. “The humiliating defeat ends the political career of one of Labour’s most senior figures and sums up a terrible night for the party in Scotland,” writes reporter Ben Riley-Smith.
There’s only one duty standing between Black and her MP seat in Westminster — a final exam for her undergraduate degree. Although some asked Black if she’s ready for the position, others are glad there’s finally someone in Westminster that can “stay awake,” reports BuzzFeed.
Black hasn’t avoided controversy. Tweets from high school surfaced after she was selected to represent the SNP and revealed just how heated this newly-minted MP gets about soccer. According to The Guardian:
During an especially tense match between her beloved Partick Thistle and rivals Celtic, she had tweeted: “I’ve only just realised – I really f***** hate Celtic” and “Celtic, yer a joke! #scum.”
The SNP championed Scottish independence from the United Kingdom, culminating in last fall’s referendum. Although unsuccessful, the center-left party was thrust into the spotlight. (RELATED: Scots Win Big, UKIP Collapses In Test Of British Voting System)
Another of Black’s controversial moments occurred when she made some unsavory comments after Scotland voted no. Reports The Guardian:
At a post-referendum rally, Black described being at the count and walking past “all these fatcat Labour councillors goading us, clapping sarcastically, saying ‘better luck next time’ or ‘hard lines’. It took everything, every fibre in my being, not to put the nut in one of them.”
Alexander was elected to the Paisley seat when Black was just three years-old, in 1997. Paisley, just outside Scotland’s largest city, Glasgow, had long been represented by Labour.
Black will be the youngest MP since 13-year-old Christopher Monckton in 1667.
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