IT was the honour of my life to represent the Stirling constituency – the area in which I was born and grew up – at Westminster between 2015-17, and play my part on the front line in the campaign to win independence for Scotland. With the Brexit debacle causing an unprecedented crisis at Westminster, we can advance that cause greatly by winning seats back from the Tories, starting in Stirling where Stephen Kerr sneaked in by a tiny margin of just 148 votes.

I have dedicated myself to winning back the Stirling constituency over the past 27 months, leading canvassing efforts and campaigning in the area. Having worked on 10 parliamentary elections in this constituency over 20 years, there isn’t a street in the constituency I haven’t campaigned for the SNP in. Elected to Stirling Council for eight years and Westminster for two, I am well-grounded in the politics of the Stirling constituency and well-placed to play a leading role in the independence campaign to come.

However, nobody has the automatic right to the SNP candidacy, and the SNP is the party of Scottish democracy. That’s why I have no problem whatsoever in a democratic contest for the nomination, and look forward to taking on Alyn Smith in that contest and to discussing and debating our ideas. And having known Alyn for 15 years, I’ll shake his hand at the end regardless of which one of us local members choose as their candidate.

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Positive opinion polls have our party in a buoyant mood, and with the tiny majority in the Stirling constituency, there is every reason to expect Stirling to be the first of many seats currently being poorly served by Tory MPs to be won back by the SNP. However, the Tories are already working hard in the constituency and in numbers, so there will be no easy pickings, whatever the opinion polls might say.

With Alyn having just been elected to the European Parliament, and with the possibility of a further extension of Article 50 to January or beyond, he’s going to have his hands full in the coming months with the job he’s got. By contrast, I am ready and willing to work every single day campaigning in the Stirling constituency until the current Tory MP Stephen Kerr is soundly beaten, whenever the General Election finally comes.

As a local councillor, I chaired Stirling’s community planning partnership during the years following the 2007 election which saw the first SNP Scottish Government. This was a time of hope and positivity as we had a government of energy and dynamism in Edinburgh prepared to allow local authorities much more freedom than the previous Labour / Liberal Scottish Executive, and the role I had allowed me to work with colleagues from across the public sector collaboratively to deliver a shared vision. It was invaluable experience.

And as Member of Parliament for the Stirling constituency, I worked on the SNP’s defence team, holding the UK Government to account on its many policy failures in this vital area. Of course, that meant steadfastly opposing their obsession with the obscenity of nuclear weapons as the keystone of the UK’s defence posture, as well as areas such as scrutinising military deployments, defence spending in Scotland, and how we could better support our veterans.

The Brexit crisis creates a huge threat to jobs in Scotland, and with Stirling a constituency which voted 67.7% to remain in the European Union, our Member of Parliament should be fighting tooth and nail to oppose Brexit, and to deliver the overwhelming wishes of constituents. It is the defining failure of Tory MP Stephen Kerr’s period in office that he has so clearly failed to represent his constituents in this area, and there will be a political price to be paid.

Brexit has proven once again that the union simply doesn’t work for Scotland, and that only through independence can Scotland reach its full potential and deliver for all its people. I intend to continue to work towards that independence goal, and I hope that colleagues across the Stirling constituency will back me to win back the Stirling seat for the SNP.