VOTERS in Shetland are going to the polls to elect the islands' new MSP, with the SNP hoping to pull off a shock victory.
Tavish Scott represented the area since the Scottish Parliament was established in 1999. But the former Scottish LibDem leader and ex-Scottish transport minister has stepped down from Holyrood after taking up a position with Scottish Rugby.
At the time he said it had been an "enormous privilege and honour" to have served the area as an MSP.
With Scott having held the seat for the entire two decades of devolution, and with voters in the Orkney and Shetland Westminster constituency having elected Liberal MPs since 1950, the LibDems selected Beatrice Wishart to contest the seat.
READ MORE: SNP hopes rise as Wills slashes gap in Shetland by-election
The SNP have been pulling out all the stops on the campaign trail, however, with First Minister Nicola Sturgeon having made several visits to the islands in support of her party's candidate Tom Wills.
Good luck to @tprwills & @theSNP friends in Shetland today - it’s been a great campaign with an excellent local candidate pic.twitter.com/53T9GbZmE0
— Angela Constance (@AConstanceSNP) August 29, 2019
Sturgeon's repeated campaign trips led the Tories to accuse the SNP leader of "only caring about Shetland when there are votes to be won".
Wishart said there were many in Shetland who were concerned the First Minister would use a vote for the SNP to "push for another independence referendum".
The LibDem said: "I totally reject their plan. We voted to remain in the UK and I am committed to making Shetland's voice heard."
She added: "Tavish worked for Shetland every day in the Scottish Parliament and if I am elected I will do the same."
READ MORE: Rattled LibDems resort to 'smear' before Shetland by-election
Wills said he believes "Shetland is ready for change" as he promised to reduce travel costs for islanders.
He vowed: "If I win on Thursday, I'll be on the phone to Nicola Sturgeon on Friday morning and I'll be meeting with SNP Government ministers next week to progress my plan to cut your travel costs."
Other candidates standing in the by-election are Johan Adamson of Scottish Labour, Conservative Brydon Goodlad, Debra Nicolson of the Scottish Greens, UKIP's Stuart Martin; and independent candidates Michael Stout, Peter Tait, Ian Scott and Ryan Thomson.
Polls opened at 7am, with voters having till 10pm to cast their ballots before counting gets under way.
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