Former SNP MP Angus Robertson in bid to become MSP

The SNP’s former leader at Westminster has announced plans to stand for election to Holyrood by contesting the seat held by Ruth Davidson.

Angus Robertson revealed that he will be seeking the SNP’s nomination to stand in Edinburgh Central at the 2021 election to try to overturn the Tories’ 610-vote majority when the former Scottish Conservatives leader stands down.

Writing in the Edinburgh Evening News, the former Moray MP accuses Davidson of putting “other career interests in London ahead of the people she still represents at Holyrood” and argued that constituents “deserve better”.

Edinburgh Central was won from the SNP at the last Scottish Parliament election in 2016, but Davidson has indicated she will be stepping down at the next poll.

Announcing his bid to become the SNP’s candidate, Mr Robertson highlighted his links to the capital, having grown up in Stockbridge, and said: “Edinburgh Central deserves a full-time MSP who will put the interests of their constituents first.

“At present, the heart of Scotland’s capital city is represented by somebody who would prefer to be in the House of Lords and pursuing a career in public relations.

“Edinburgh Central needs an MSP that has a full-time commitment to their constituents and constituency, and the SNP needs a full-time candidate to win this important seat. I believe I am best placed to be that candidate,” he added.

“I will not pretend to -constituents that I can be in two places at the same time.”

The former SNP leader in the House of Commons has been linked with standing to become an MSP after losing his Westminster seat to the Conservatives’ Douglas Ross at the 2017 general election.

He has since worked as managing director of pro-independence think-tank and polling organisation Progress Scotland.