Badenoch seat at Holyrood up for grabs
Candidates for the upcoming Scottish Parliamentary elections in Highland constituencies have been announced.
The contenders will battle it out to be the chosen representatives for the three Highland constituencies of Inverness and Nairn, Caithness, Sutherland and Ross, and Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch when voters head to the polls on May 5.
Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch
The most keenly contested seat in the Highlands is expected to be the Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch seat.
The outgoing SNP MSP Dave Thompson’s young successor Katie Forbes will be looking to retain his 4995-strong majority as she bids for her first term.
But with the Liberal Democrats yet to announce their candidate for this key seat it is too early to say who is likely to prove to be her toughest obstacle.
Also in the running is Scottish Labour candidate Linda Stewart, wife of Highlands and Islands regional MSP David Stewart.
Tory candidate Malcolm Mackay completes the line-up so far. The Scottish Green Party’s local branch has not made clear its intentions.
Inverness and Nairn
Fergus Ewing will be looking to hang onto his seat in this constituency. The SNP representative achieved 51.5% of the vote in 2011.
Labour MSP David Stewart is likely to be his toughest adversary, although Scottish Liberal Democrat Carolyn Caddick will be looking to increase her party’s 11.5% share from the vote in 2011. Moray farmer and former army major Edward Mountain will contest the seat for the Scottish Conservatives. The Scottish Green party’s intentions are not yet clear.
Caithness, Sutherland and Ross
Time will tell if the Caithness, Sutherland and Ross seat turns out to be a close affair.
SNP candidate, the Wick councillor Gail Ross, will be eager to replicate her party’s outgoing MSP Rob Gibson’s triumph here in 2011. The retiring politician took a 48.4% of the vote with 13,843 votes in the last election.
Liberal Democrat councillor Jamie Stone has signalled his intention to throw his hat into the ring for this seat and Scottish Conservative Party candidate Struan Mackie will also be on the campaign trail. Labour’s contender is yet to be announced and the Scottish Green party has not said whether it will stand a candidate.
Voters will cast a second vote for their chosen party because of the Additional Member System which is used in the Scottish Parliament elections.
SNP
1. Maree Todd 2. Laura Mitchell 3. Michael Mackenzie
Liberal Democrats
1. Jamie Stone 2. Carolyn Caddick 3. David Green
Scottish Green Party
1. John Finnie 2. Isla O’Reilly 3. Fabio Villani 4.
Scottish Conservatives
Constituency candidates will also stand for the regional list but the order has not yet been finalised.
Scottish Labour
Their regional list is yet to be announced.
