THE SNP have overtaken the Conservatives to become the second largest political party in the United Kingdom, new analysis suggests.
Data collated by the House of Commons Library estimated the Nationalists have just under 125,500 members, compared to the Tories’ 124,000.
However the latest Tory figures are from March this year, and so will not take into account any recent membership changes.
The Library’s analysis noted: “The latest available data shows that SNP membership has surpassed the latest reported Conservative membership figure.
“SNP membership rose from 118,162 in April 2018 to 125,482 in August 2018, according to information provided by the party’s headquarters.
“It worth noting, however, that the latest Conservative membership figure (124,000) was reported in March 2018. This therefore does not account for any possible changes since then.”
Ukip donor Arron Banks recently called on party members to infiltrate the Tories and help oust Theresa May in a bid to usher through a hard Brexit.
Unconfirmed estimates suggest Labour had around 540,000 members as of April 2018.
Meanwhile, the Liberal Democrats had around 99,200 members as of August.
Responding to the data on Twitter, Nicola Sturgeon said: “Wow – @theSNP is now officially the second biggest party in the whole of the UK.”
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