AN SNP MP who resigned from the Westminster's frontbench after Stephen Flynn became group leader has now been sacked as a member of a key Commons committee.

Stewart McDonald quit as defence spokesman two days after Mr Flynn stormed to victory in the internal election on December 6.

The MP for Glasgow South, who backed Mr Flynn's rival Alison Thewliss in the contest, sat on Westminster's foreign affairs committee (FAC). 

Last night he revealed he had hoped to remain a member of the body but was being removed from its membership today.

Highlighting the committee's most recent report, he wrote on Twitter: "Pleased to publish this report with colleagues - my last as an FAC member.

"Although I had hoped to continue on the committee following recent changes in our SNP Westminster group, I am to be removed from tomorrow. I've enjoyed my time working with some great colleagues and clerks."

Drew Hendry, who was appointed as the party's foreign affairs spokesman at Westminster by Mr Flynn in his reshuffle this month, will replace Mr McDonald on the committee.

In a second change of committee members, Mhairi Black, who was elected as Mr Flynn's deputy is standing down from the Scottish Affairs Committee, to be replaced with Philippa Whitford, the party's new Scotland spokeswoman in Westminster.

And in a third change of committee personnel, Gavin Newlands is stepping down from the High Speed Rail (Crewe - Manchester) Bill Select Committee with Dr Lisa Cameron taking his place. Mr Newlands was made transport spokesman in the reshuffle.

All of the changes are listed in the Commons' order paper and are expected to be formally approved on January 9 when MPs return after the Christmas recess.

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Mr McDonald stood down from his role as the SNP's defence spokesman on December 8 after five years.

The Glasgow South MP last month won the Parliamentarian of the Year award at the SNP's St Andrew's Day dinner days after he was named Best Scot at Westminster at The Herald's Politician of the Year event, beating party colleague Joanna Cherry and the Lib Dem MP Wendy Chamberlain.

He was recognised for his work on Ukraine, exposing disinformation and standing up to internal critics as he revised military and foreign policy.

His resignation from the SNP frontbench followed that of his colleague Pete Wishart, who stood down as the party's environment spokesman. 

Both men were close to ousted chief, Ian Blackford.

In a statement shared on Twitter, Mr McDonald said at the time he had "loved every minute of" his time as defence spokesman. 

He went on to thank Mr Blackford for the "opportunity to take on the defence brief and for the active support he showed me throughout."

He added: “Defence and security policy were never particularly easy or urgent for my party. I have sought to change that by going beyond our normal comfort zone, modernising our thinking and normalising discussion about defence.

“This has been driven by solid teamwork, research, and policy development across the huge spectrum that the defence brief covers. I’m proud of the policy work I have done on Nato, a national security strategy, countering disinformation, the armed forces and much more.

“In doing so I have aimed to flesh out what a credible security posture for an independent Scotland should look like and hold the UK Government to account on where it must improve."

He added: “We are at our best when we collaborate as a united party and sell a modern vision of what Scotland can still achieve: a confident case that’s rooted in understanding the challenges of today, offers credible, innovative solutions and builds a coalition of voters behind our ideas.

“I’m sure the new leadership team at Westminster will keep this at the forefront of their mind and work in that spirit across the party."

He went on to pledge his support to Mr Flynn and his newly elected deputy Mhairi Black.

Chris Law, the MP for Dundee West, announced his decision to step down as the SNP’s spokesperson for international development and climate justice hours after Mr Wishart and Mr McDonald quit their frontbench roles.

"After five and a half years serving as the SNP's Shadow Secretary for International Development and Climate Justice, I have decided to step down from this role. Serving in this role has been an honour and a privilege," he wrote on Twitter.

Mr Wishart remains chair of the Scottish Affairs committee, while Mr Law continues to be a member of the international development committee in the Commons.