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Daily Record
Daily Record
Politics
Peter Davidson

Scottish Election 2021: Simple guide to Mid Scotland and Fife regional list

Seven seats are up for grabs in the Mid Scotland and Fife regional list at the 2021 Scottish Parliament election.

The SNP managed to secure eight out of the nine constituency seats in the area at the 2016 election - but they will be looking to go one further and take Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie's seat of North East Fife.

He currently holds a 3465 majority in the area so it could be a tight race. The Lib Dems managed to win the equivalent seat at the 2019 General Election, giving Rennie belief he can hold on.

The larger geographical seats across Scotland have a range of issues so it is something the candidates will need to be clued up on throughout the campaign.

Here's all you need to know about the Mid Scotland and Fife seat:

The picturesque town of St Andrews is in the Mid Scotland and Fife region (PA)

What happened last time?

Like in many of the regional lists the Tories picked up a number of seats at the 2016 election.

In Mid Scotland and Fife they were able to return four MSPs to Holyrood for a five-year term.

Conservative Murdo Fraser secured a seat on the regional list in 2016 (Getty Images)

Murdo Fraser, Liz Smith, Dean Lockhart and Alexander Stewart represented the Tories in the chamber from 2016 to 2021.

Alex Rowley and Claire Brennan-Baker secured seats for Labour, while Mark Ruskell got in with the Scottish Greens.

Who is standing this time?

There are a number of big names standing on the list in Mid Scotland and Fife.

Scottish Lib Dems leader Willie Rennie tops the list for his party. He is also standing for re-election in his North East Fife constituency so he will be hoping to get in one way or another.

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie tops the regional list for his party (PA Images)

Rennie is joined by another six Liberals on their list.

Another big name on the list is deputy first minster and education secretary John Swinney. He is also standing for re-election in his Perthshire North seat where he is up against Tory Murdo Fraser.

At the top of the SNP list is Stefan Hoggan-Radu, followed by Swinney, Keith Brown, Annabelle Ewing, Jim Fairlie, David Torrance, Ross Cunningham, Fiona Sarwar,Moraig Henderson, Lee Robb and Rosemary Hunter.

Murdo Fraser tops the Tory list, he is joined by 10 of his colleagues.

While for Labour, Claire Baker is the number one on the list with Alex Rowley taking second place.

Current Green MSP Mark Ruskell tops the list for his party. The Greens have another nine candidates up for election.

Alex Salmond's Alba Party have four candidates on the list. Eva Comrie tops it with current MP Neale Hanvey in second, Jim Eadie in third and Stephanie Reilly in fourth.

What is expected this time?

The results on the list could be very similar to the ones seen after the 2016 election where the Tories picked up four seats, Scottish Labour two and the Scottish Greens one.

Nicola Sturgeon's SNP won all but one seat in the region (North East Fife) in 2016.

If Willie Rennie manages to hold on to his marginal seat then the Nationalists may creep on to the list in last place.

The Alba party is the great unknown therefore if independence supporters lend their vote to Salmond's party and not the Greens then Mark Ruskell may see himself without a seat in the chamber.

What are the main issues?

Like with all areas across the country Scotland's recovery from the coronavirus pandemic is the main issue at this election.

Those who work at the BiFab yard in Methil were given a boost earlier this month with the creation of 300 jobs.

Wind turbine foundation work is set to take place at the site in Fife, however the long term future of that site and the one in Burntisland is also a concern for those in the area.

Closing the poverty gap in the region is also a priority for many candidates. There is a huge gap between those who live in and around St Andrews and Elie compared to somewhere like Cowdenbeath or Lochgelly.

There are a number of big employers in the region, including Diageo in Leven which plays a big part in the local economy.

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