NICOLA Sturgeon has heaped praise on the SNP’s candidate in a Westminster by-election today as voters in the area return to the polls for the second time in a week.
They are to elect a new MP after the constituency’s former MP Neil Gray stepped down to stand for the Scottish Parliament.
Gray was successful in his bid to become MSP for Airdrie and Shotts, succeeding his party colleague Alex Neil who retired after first entering Holyrood in 1999.
The contest for the Westminster seat today is expected to again be a straight race between the SNP and Labour.
Modern studies teacher Anum Qaisar-Javed, 28, is the SNP’s candidate, with Labour’s contender being councillor Kenneth Stevenson.
“Anum will be an exceptional addition to our Westminster team if elected,” said First Minister and SNP leader Sturgeon.
“Not only would Anum represent a strong voice for Scotland, she would send an incredibly powerful message to all women of colour that anything is possible in politics.”
READ MORE: SNP hopeful ‘not complacent’ in Westminster by-election despite Holyrood success
She added: “That is why I am urging each and every resident in Airdrie and Shotts to cast their vote for Anum and the SNP on May 13.
“The people of Scotland made their voice heard in the Scottish election last week – a vote for Anum will make sure that Westminster are listening to those voices.
“Don’t leave it to chance. Make sure you vote Anum Qaisar-Javed, the voice that Airdrie and Shotts deserve.”
Qaisar-Javed said the campaign had been an “incredible and positive journey” and she was excited to see the outcome.
“The SNP have ... led Scotland’s recovery from the pandemic and have continued to champion fairness and equality, so it is fitting that I, and other women of colour, are representing the party.
“If elected by the voters of Airdrie and Shotts, I would relish the opportunity to stand up for this constituency at Westminster,” she said.
“Scotland can do so much better than the current swamp of Tory cronyism that has engulfed Westminster – but that potential can only be realised with independence.
“I am urging the people of Airdrie and Shotts to vote for me on May 13 so that Scotland, and this constituency’s, democratic will for a second independence referendum is heard loud and clear.”
Gray, the SNP’s former social justice spokesman at Westminster, took the Holyrood constituency seat last Thursday with a majority of 5468 votes over Scottish Labour’s former leader Richard Leonard, with the Scottish Tories coming third.
Gray was first elected MP for Airdrie and Shotts in 2015, beating former Scottish Labour MP Pamela Nash, who now heads the campaign group Scotland in Union.
Prior to Nash, it was held by Labour grandees John Reid and Helen Liddell.
Qaisar-Javed is a former general secretary of Muslim Friends of Labour, and campaigned for Yes in 2014 as a Labour member, sometimes sharing a platform with Sturgeon. She switched to the SNP after the independence referendum.
Other contenders today include Ben Callaghan of the Tories, LibDem Stephen Arrundale and Donald MacKay of Ukip. The Scottish Greens are not standing.
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