SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn has abandoned his bid to sit in both the London and Edinburgh parliaments following a backlash within his own party.

His decision came after First Minister John Swinney warned that it was “very, very demanding” for a politician to split their time between the two.

Mr Swinney had previously held seats in both parliaments, but there has been growing disapproval of “double jobbing” and the SNP criticised former Conservative leader Douglas Ross for doing so.

In the face of claims of hypocrisy, Mr Flynn admitted that he had “got this one wrong”.

Mr Flynn had indicated he would seek election as MSP in the Aberdeen South & North Kincardine ​seat held by his colleague Audrey Nicoll in order to be closer to the campaign for independence. He said he would stay on at Westminster until the end of the parliament in 2029.

“Hands up, I’ve got this one wrong and won’t be pursuing a dual mandate,” he declared last night.

“My aim to save the public purse from unnecessary strain by potentially overlapping the role of an MP and an MSP for a short period until the next general election was genuine in its intent — but doing it for the right reasons doesn’t change the fact that I got it wrong.

“My motivation and central belief remains that Holyrood, as the heart of Scottish democracy, is the democratic platform that will drive the route to an independent Scotland. All of us in the independence movement share that common cause and want to be part of that story.

“Alongside all SNP members, I now look forward to assessing the new candidate selection rules that my party will put in place.”

Mr Swinney, who served as both an MP and MSP in the early days of devolution, told journalists at Holyrood: “Having had a dual mandate, it is practically very, very demanding to do so. That’s a very real factor that’s got to be considered in any judgment about that issue, because there is a need to undertake demands in both parliaments.”

He added: “I did it for two years and it was very demanding to do it. That has to be borne in mind in any judgments made about whether such an approach is appropriate or not appropriate.”

The First Minister said Mr Flynn, who is seen as a potential successor as party leader, had “a huge contribution to make” and is “one of our great stars”.

The party changed internal rules before the 2021 election to ensure MPs seeking a Holyrood seat would have to quit Westminster before they would be allowed to run. It was seen as an attempt to prevent Joanna Cherry, the former Edinburgh South West MP and frequent party critic, from standing.

When announcing his plan to sit in both parliaments Mr Flynn described that rule change as “election specific”. The party’s national executive committee is expected to establish a new ruling on candidate selection by February. 

Last night Scottish Conservative Deputy Leader Rachael Hamilton said: “This is a humiliating U-turn for Stephen Flynn.

“His plans were typical of arrogant SNP politicians who think there should be one rule for them and another for everyone else.

“However, even people in his own party saw right through his rank hypocrisy and made their feelings known.

“The public deserve better than nationalists prioritising their own career options, rather than addressing what Scots are really concerned about.”

Graham Simpson, the Conservative MSP for central Scotland, has retabled a bill pledging “to end the ability of politicians to sit both in Holyrood and Westminster”.

He said: “These amendments will do that. MSPs must do the right thing and back my proposal.”

Under Mr Simpson’s bill, any MP who is elected to Holyrood would have to stand down from Westminster within eight days. Labour and the Greens expected to support the proposal.

During the first meeting of the new Scottish Affairs Committee at Westminster on Tuesday, the Scotland Secretary Ian Murray said: “Double-jobbing is something I would find incredibly difficult.

“There’s not enough time in the day to do one job let alone two, particularly if we want to represent our constituents properly as well.”