ANGUS Robertson has stepped up his campaign to enter Holyrood by taking aim at his rival in a key SNP selection fight.
The former SNP Westminster leader hinted he was not seeking the Edinburgh Central candidacy to replace the First Minister, but to be a "political team-player and colleague".
Last week, Mr Robertson announced he would seek the support of SNP members to be selected in the Edinburgh Central constituency at next year's Scottish Parliament election.
But Edinburgh South West MP Joanna Cherry has now also thrown her hat into the ring.
READ MORE: Neil Mackay: If the SNP oust Sturgeon it’s the beginning of the end for the party and independence
In an apparent dig at Ms Cherry's bid to win election to Holyrood, Mr Robertson said that "no former or current Westminster MP should think they can just turn up at Holyrood without any direct experience of the institution and walk into any job".
The seat has a Tory majority of just 610 and Ruth Davidson is stepping down at the 2021 election from the constituency.
Speculation had suggested that the successful candidate, assuming they win the seat and a place at Holyrood, could become favourite to succeed Ms Sturgeon.
Writing in the Edinburgh Evening News, Mr Robertson said: "For the avoidance of doubt, my aim is to become the SNP MSP for Edinburgh Central to help and support Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP over the crucial years ahead, where we need to decisively win the independence argument and the recognition and understanding of EU capitals. The only way that we will succeed is with discipline, team work and focus on the prize.
"Whenever Nicola Sturgeon decides to move onto new challenges many years down the line, hopefully after securing independence, I am sure there will be a range of younger talents in the Scottish Parliament that I can support for their leadership skills and potential.
READ MORE: SNP battle looms over Holyrood candidacy
"In the meantime, Edinburgh Central is a marginal seat, and the SNP requires a full-time candidate between selection and the election. Victory should not be taken for granted. It needs to be worked for and I am committed to be the full-time candidate that wins it.
"No former or current Westminster MP should think they can just turn up at Holyrood without any direct experience of the institution and walk into any job apart from serving their constituents and being a good MSP. I certainly don’t."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel