An SNP minister in the government of Nicola Sturgeon was embroiled in a foul-mouthed altercation with another party member at a raucous ‘drag bingo’ event in an Aberdeen nightclub at 1 a.m., just hours before the Scottish First Minister delivered her keynote conference address.
Minister of Mental Wellbeing Kevin Stewart, 54, was reportedly on the dancefloor at a party hosted by the SNP’s LGBTQ+ branch Out for Independence at Cheerz nightclub when the argument broke out on Monday morning.
One witness to the altercation stated that there was “a lot of finger wagging” and “yelling,” with the man engaged yelling at the Nationalist candidate, “Are we in Birmingham? Are we now Republicans?’
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After the altercation, the MSP for Aberdeen Central was reportedly saw waving at the SNP member and using harsh language before leaving Cheerz with a bouncer.
After Mr. Stewart left, the other individual involved in the dispute remained in the bar for at least an additional hour.
Mr. Stewart maintained that his behavior was the source of the yelling match and insisted that he became involved in the dispute due to the “behaviors” of others. When questioned about his late-night altercation, the government minister also claimed to have “leave by choice.”
“It wasn’t a fight, it was a disagreement – I wasn’t pleased with some of the displayed behaviors,” he stated.
Last night, the SNP remained silent on whether any formal complaints had been filed on the incident.
A senior government official stated that he was unaware of any complaints regarding Mr. Stewart’s behavior.
According to an attending councillor, Mr. Stewart came late to the gathering and was forced to perform push-ups as a “forfeit.”
A concerned SNP councillor who witnessed the brawl deemed it ’embarrassing’ that a government minister was involved in the public altercation.
Mental Wellbeing Minister Kevin Stewart (shown on the right) was reportedly on the dancefloor at a party hosted by the SNP’s LGBTQ+ wing Out for Independence at Cheerz nightclub in Aberdeen at 1am on Monday.
Mr. Stewart in October 2019 in the Scottish Parliament
The dispute started out at Aberdeen’s Cheerz nightclub (pictured)
Mr. Stewart posted a photo of Miss Sturgeon’s Monday afternoon keynote address, reporting her as stating, “Let’s make Aberdeen the net zero capital of the world.”
A member of the party crew who was present at the club deemed Mr. Stewart’s behavior “inappropriate.”
The 54-year-old was elected to Holyrood in 2011, after serving as an Aberdeen councillor for 12 years.
In 2016, Miss Sturgeon chose him as her minister for local government, housing, and development, and in May of last year, he was placed into his present mental health position.
Mr. Stewart attended the P&J Live arena on the city’s outskirts to speak at a bereavement-related conference fringe event just eight and a half hours after the late-night altercation.
At the talk organized by the UK Commission on Bereavement, he appeared alongside Donald Macaskill, the chief executive officer of Scottish Care, and Ellie Wagstaff from the Marie Curie cancer charity to explore ways to enhance care for bereaved families.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon waving after delivering the keynote address at the conference
Later that afternoon, he tweeted an image of Miss Sturgeon’s keynote address, reporting her as saying, “Let’s make Aberdeen the capital of net zero.”
This is not the first time that the SNP has been accused of improper behavior by one of its politicians.
Earlier this year, the SNP and one of its Westminster employees reached a financial settlement after his harassment case against former party chief whip Patrick Grady was upheld.
An investigation at Westminster determined that Mr. Grady, the representative for Glasgow North, violated the House of Commons’ sexual misconduct policy by making a “unwanted sexual advance” toward a junior staff member.
In 2016, he was accused of touching and stroking the neck, hair, and back of a male party worker aged 19 years old.
In August of this year, Sky News reported that a former SNP staff member claimed that the party has a ‘tolerance threshold’ for sexual misconduct complaints and inappropriate behavior.
The ex-employee said: ‘You’re allowed to pat someone on the bum, you’re maybe allowed to put your finger down someone’s neck, maybe you can kiss them without consent, but you’re not allowed to rape them.
‘And to me that is abhorrent and horrific, but it really does show the culture inside of Westminster … basically if it’s not rape it’s okay.’
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