Point of Order

Kirsty Blackman Excerpts

Tuesday 13th October 2026 Commons Chamber

[Kirsty Blackman (Aberdeen North) (SNP)]

On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. We had a council by-election in my constituency and in the constituency of the hon. Member for Aberdeen South (Douglas Lumsden) over the course of the break. I was very surprised to see a picture tweeted by the Secretary of State for Scotland of him standing in front of a street sign in my constituency, with the road very clearly written on it, despite the fact that he had not given me any notice that he intended to be in my constituency. How can I raise with the Secretary of State for Scotland the importance of notifying Members if he intends to be in their constituency to campaign?

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Ms Nusrat Ghani)]

I have no doubt that this matter will be raised many times by colleagues. There is a document called the “Rules of behaviour and courtesies in the House of Commons”, which deals with this matter. When a Member visits another Member’s constituency, except on a purely private visit, they should take reasonable steps in advance to tell the Member in whose constituency the visit is taking place. The guidance states that

“failing to do so is regarded by colleagues as very discourteous.”

I have no doubt that the point will be passed on by Front Benchers to the Member in question.