ONLY one aspiring member of the Scottish Parliament is also a TV soap-opera star in Pakistan and has a Welsh mum who performed with the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh is a

27-year-old Glasgow solicitor and the Tory candidate for the Govan constituency in Glasgow.

And I can say in truth: ''I kent her faither'' - Mohammed Rizvi, who back in the early 1980s became the first Asian regional councillor in Scotland. He's proud as punch of his clever, glamorous daughter and is coming north from his current home in London to take part in her election campaign.

Despite the Tories wallowing nationally in the political doldrums and little sign of revival in Scotland, the Govan candidate remains unashamedly enthusiastic about the virtues of the Conservative Party. Tory values and Asian values, she says, are the same: standing on your own feet, having respect for the family, the importance of education.

No-one expects the Tories to triumph in Govan but the candidate insists, with refreshing optimism, that it isn't just a

two-horse race between Labour and the SNP. For example, there are 6000 Asian voters in the constituency but no-one knows what their political reaction will be to the trial of incumbent Labour MP Mohammed Sarwar on charges of election fraud.

Realistically, Tasmina's best chance of reaching Holyrood is through the regional party lists. She has been placed number two in Glasgow and might just make it. She is seen as a bit of a rising star by Central Office and there were accusations by some local activists - strongly refuted by the hierarchy - that they had tried to boost her chances via the list as far as possible.

But she sails on serenely, bringing an unexpectedly starry sheen to parliamentary elections which sometimes seems just a tad dour and dull.

A visit to Pakistan to show her new husband to her father's family after she had finished a degree in law at Strathclyde University brought offers of modelling and television work in Karachi. Recently she has starred in a 13-part drama serial made in Scotland by her TV producer husband which is currently being screened to a massive audience of three billion in Pakistan and other Far Eastern and Arab countries via satellite. Even the beggars in Pakistan, it seems, have access to a television set.

The serial is about Asians living in Scotland and is called Des Pardes which translates as ''Foreign Homeland''.

''My father always ensured we spoke in English so I had to learn Urdu very quickly when I went to Pakistan. It's funny, I am really well-known there now. But, no - I don't expect to be starring in any more TV programmes. I will be far too busy working as an MSP at Holyrood. But I do think that standing up in court, standing in front of the television

cameras, and standing up in Parliament taking part in political debate are similar.''

Her mother went to drama school, acted with the RSC, but later took a job in insurance where she worked for Mo Rizvi. ''He was shy and passed her a note on the Tube one day in London asking her to marry him,'' says Tasmina.

Her own marriage was ''part love, part arranged'' - their fathers were friends and, fortunately, she and her husband-to-be fell in love at first sight. She is a mother of two with a son just 10 months old, but Tasmina says if there had been no Scottish Parliament she would have tried for a Westminster seat. And, with the supreme confidence of youth, is sure she could have coped.

''I waited until I thought I was old enough to be a credible candidate, qualified as a solicitor and then a year ago decided to try to enter the political arena. The Scottish Parliament was the first opportunity. If you have a family you make arrangements, and I have the most supportive husband. It is your decision to have the family. I am not a whinger. If you want something you have to go out and get it.''

She is passionately opposed to positive discrimination for women or for Asians living here. ''What we need to do is make people feel good about themselves. You do not make anybody feel good if you make them think they need some kind of special help. I think Asians have to come forward more. The opportunities exist within the Conservative Party for Asians to come forward and they will get where they are on merit.''

It is very important, she believes, that the Asian community can hold up

their heads and say: ''Tasmina has been selected because of her skills, not just because she is a token Asian.''

Tory values and Asian values are the same: standing on your own feet, having respect for family

Picture: COLIN MEARNS