The former MP plays a police detective in Counsels, which is being filmed in Glasgow and will be aired on BBC One and the BBC iPlayer.
13:54, 29 Oct 2025
Mhairi Black(Image: PA)
Mhairi Black has joined the cast of a new BBC legal drama in her first television acting role.
The former MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire South plays a police detective in Counsels, which is being filmed in Glasgow and will be aired on BBC One and the BBC iPlayer.
Filming starts next week, with Ms Black set to appear in four episodes of the eight-part series.
The series is supported by Screen Scotland and co-created by Scottish writers Bryan Elsley and Gillian McCormack – a BBC Writers’ Drama Room graduate.
Ms Black, who stepped down as an SNP MP last year, said: “I’m excited to be joining Counsels and look forward to getting stuck in to playing Detective Inspector Bridges.
Mhairi Black stood down as an MP before the 2024 general election
“I’ve been relishing trying different things since politics, this is my first TV acting role and I really enjoyed auditioning for the part.
“To work on a series which is set and filmed in Glasgow is an amazing opportunity – what a brilliant show to be a part of.”
Counsels follows the lives of a group of young lawyers in Glasgow a few years out of university, when their careers finally become serious.
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The lead roles are played by an ensemble cast of Brandon Grace, Ro Kumar, Eilidh Park, George Prentice, Alyth Ross and Rebecca Bell.
Ms Black made history aged 20 in 2015 when she became the youngest MP elected to Westminster since 1832.
She spent nearly a decade in Parliament before stepping down at the 2024 general election.
Since leaving politics she has leaned towards the entertainment industry, and in 2024 she debuted a one-woman show Politics Isn’t For Me at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
