Lara Bird

Lara Bird

MP
Official portrait, 2026
Member of Parliament
for Arbroath and Broughty Ferry
Assumed office
18 June 2026
Preceded byStephen Gethins
Majority5,278 (21.7%)
Personal details
Born
Pyla Lara Bird-Leakey

1998 (age 27–28)
Political partyScottish National Party
RelativesColin Leakey (grandfather)
EducationHigh School of Dundee
Alma materUniversity of Sheffield (LLB)
London School of Economics (LLM)

Pyla Lara Bird-Leakey (born 1998), known as Lara Bird, is a Scottish politician and lawyer who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Arbroath and Broughty Ferry since 2026. She is a member of the Scottish National Party.

Early life

Pyla Lara Bird-Leakey was born in 1998. She grew up in Kirriemuir, Scotland. She studied at the High School of Dundee. Her grandfather, Colin Leakey, was a plant scientist.

Bird graduated from the University of Sheffield with an LLB and then moved to London, where she studied Public International Law at the London School of Economics. She became a lawyer in 2025. She was a PhD student at King's College London until she quit her studies to run for Parliament.

Political career

Bird first became involved in politics at the age of 16, around the time of the 2014 Scottish independence referendum.

Parliament

On 20 May 2026, Bird was picked as the SNP candidate for the 2026 Arbroath and Broughty Ferry by-election to replace Stephen Gethins. She was elected on 18 June, holding the seat for the SNP with an larger majority of 4,961 votes.

Bird was sworn in as a Member of Parliament on 22 June. She said she will be loyal to the Scottish people first and crossed her fingers as she swore the oath. Bird said swearing her allegiance to the king was anti-democratic.

References

  1. 1 2 Middle Temple. "Call to the Bar ... 9 October 2025" (PDF). Retrieved 23 June 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 O'Neil, Sean (11 June 2026). "EXCLUSIVE: Arbroath and Broughty Ferry SNP byelection candidate Lara Bird opens up on her background". The Courier. Archived from the original on 19 June 2026. Retrieved 18 June 2026.
  3. 1 2 Cumming, Ed (24 June 2026). "New SNP MP's accent flips from English to Scottish". The Telegraph. Retrieved 25 June 2026.
  4. ↑ "Lara Bird-Leakey". Middle East Eye. Retrieved 18 June 2026.
  5. ↑ Bird, Lara (2026-01-23). "A state can only exempt itself from international law if others allow it to". The National. Retrieved 2026-06-17.
  6. ↑ Peacock, Laura (2026-05-20). "SNP announce candidates for two Westminster by-elections". The National. Retrieved 2026-06-19.
  7. ↑ Morrison, Hamish (2026-06-18). "Arbroath and Broughty Ferry by-election results in charts and graphs". The National. Retrieved 2026-06-19.
  8. ↑ "House of Commons - Hansard - Volume 788: debated on Monday 22 June 2026". hansard.parliament.uk. Retrieved 23 June 2026.
  9. 1 2 Holl-Allen, Genevieve (23 June 2026). "Scottish MP crosses her fingers while swearing allegiance to the King". The Telegraph. Retrieved 23 June 2026.

Other websites