THE former director of the Better Together campaign has been named as the Labour candidate for East Renfrewshire for the next General Election.
It was previously reported in the Times that Blair McDougall, who was the top strategist and a prominent spokesperson for the Unionist side in the 2014 independence referendum, was in the running to contest either East Renfrewshire or Paisley and Renfrewshire South.
On Twitter/X on Monday evening, Scottish Labour’s Twitter account confirmed he would be the candidate for East Renfrewshire.
Reacting to the news on his own social media account, McDougall said: “Thrilled to have been selected as Labour’s candidate for my home constituency of East Ren.
“I grew up here, live here and will fight like hell for the community I love. I’m out campaigning later if anyone fancies it…?”
The seat is currently held by the SNP’s Kirsten Oswald although has previously been held by Labour and the Tories.
McDougall previously ran for the same seat in 2017 although lost out to Tory candidate Paul Masterton.
Scottish Labour also announced that Unison’s head of local government Johanna Baxter (below) would serve as the candidate for Paisley and Renfrewshire South.
Writing on Twitter/X, she said: “Absolutely delighted to have been selected as Labour’s candidate for Paisley & Renfrewshire South!
“Thank you to everyone who has put their faith in me. This is going to be a tough fight but we’re going to work hard for every vote. See you on the #LabourDoorstep.”
A recent poll conducted by analysts at Stonehaven which predicted the result in every Scottish seat at the next General Election suggested that Labour would win the seat Baxter is running in.
