THE former deputy leader of the SNP is to wed his mistress two years after leaving his wife.

Dundee East MP Stewart Hosie, 55, confirmed to a Sunday newspaper that he asked Serena Cowdy, 37, to marry him over the festive break.

He said: “Serena and I are delighted to announce that we got engaged last week and intend to get married later this year.”

Mr Hosie rocked the SNP hierarchy in May 2016 when it emerged he was in a relationship with journalist Ms Cowdy, who had also been the lover of another married SNP MP, Angus Brendan MacNeil.

The affair led to Mr Hosie resigning as SNP deputy leader and separating from his wife Shona Robison, the SNP health secretary and one of Nicola Sturgeon’s closest friends.

He later apologised for the “hurt and upset” he had caused to friends, family and colleagues.