A GLASGOW councillor became the latest SNP elected representative to defect to Alex Salmond’s new Alba Party.
Michelle Ferns was involved in settling the landmark equal pay dispute on Scotland’s largest local authority but will now try to win election as an MSP in May.
The councillor for the Shettleston ward will stand on the Glasgow list at the forthcoming Scottish Parliament poll.
Salmond stunned Scottish politics last week when he announced the establishment of a new pro-independence party. Two SNP MPs – Kenny MacAskill and Neale Hanvey – quit Nicola Sturgeon’s party over the weekend to join Salmond’s new movement. Ferns is among a number of serving SNP councillors who have joined Alba.
Caroline McAllister, who was previously the SNP’s depute leader on West Dunbartonshire Council, and was the party’s women’s convener, announced her defection on Sunday. Inverclyde councillor Christopher McEleny also announced his Alba membership last week alongside North Lanarkshire councillor Lynne Anderson.
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Ferns said: “I’m delighted to join the Alba Party and to stand as a candidate in the regional list in Glasgow. I have been privileged to represent my ward in the east end of Glasgow for the last four years, a job I have loved. There is rightly a lot of focus on the Scottish Parliament by the people of Scotland. I would be honoured to be a strong working class voice within the party delivering for the people of Glasgow.”
Ferns added: “As city convener for workforce in the historic first pro-independence administration in Glasgow, I was extremely proud to stand alongside women when we righted a historical injustice and secured equal pay settlements totalling over half a billion pounds for thousands of women across the city.”
Salmond said: “Michelle will be a great representative for the city of Glasgow. Through her role in helping deliver Glasgow’s historic equal pay settlement she has proven she is a strong advocate for social justice and women in the city.”
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