THE National will profile every one of Scotland’s 32 local authority areas ahead of May 5’s election – starting today.

Our new series begins with Dumfries and Galloway and will run until the day before polls open in the contest for Scotland’s councils.

We’ll be giving readers a daily insight into the local election races one by one. Each piece will detail the key issues affecting regions – and include the voices of both those standing for election and communities in the area.

READ THE FIRST ONE: Showdown in southern Scotland: Tories look to take control of key council region

The features will be delivered primarily by reporters Abbi Garton-Crosbie, Steph Brawn, Judith Duffy, Hamish Morrison and Xander Richards.

National editor Callum Baird said: “We’re really excited to be launching this daily feature for our readers – bringing unparalleled coverage of Scotland’s local elections.

“This is building on our wider coverage which has already included exposing a number of Scottish Tory candidates as entirely unfit to stand.

“Strong coverage of local issues is important in its own right but, talking to Yessers especially, we’ve also heard how important it can be to the wider constitutional debate.

“As Scotland’s pro-independence newspaper, we know our readers trust the perspective we bring to our analysis.

“National readers know their area well – and these pieces will allow for insights into regions across Scotland you might be less familiar with, keeping you in the know for when the results start coming in.

“We’ve got a great team of reporters and sub-editors working on this, drawn from all across Scotland.”

If you miss your local authority’s feature and wish to order a back copy of the paper, please get in touch with stewart.ward@thenational.scot via email.