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The Tayside and Fife MPs standing their ground – and those stepping down at general election

Rishi Sunak has confirmed the election will be held on July 4.

Some Tayside and Fife MPs will be quitting come the next election
Some Tayside and Fife MPs will be quitting come the next election. Image: DC Thomson.

A host of MPs from across Tayside and Fife have announced they will quit Westminster at the next election – including senior SNP figures.

Those who have said they will stand down include Mhairi Black, the party’s deputy leader in the House of Commons, and former group leader Ian Blackford.

With changes to the electoral map, it means the next group of Scottish MPs will look quite different after the election on July 4.

We’ve taken a look at all the local seats across Tayside and Fife, with details below about how constituencies will change and who plans to contest them.


Dundee 

Locally, long-serving nationalist MP Stewart Hosie, who has represented Dundee East since 2005, will step back from elected politics.

Mr Hosie, 60, said he had made the decision after a “great deal of thought”, saying it had been the “greatest privilege” of his life to represent the city.

Retiring Dundee MP Stewart Hosie. Mhairi Edwards/DCT Media

He will lead his party’s election campaign in the run-up to the July vote.

Former North East Fife MP Stephen Gethins will run for the SNP in the Arbroath and Broughty Ferry consituency replacing Mr Hosie’s old seat.

In Dundee West, current MP Chris Law wants to return as a member of parliament.

The seat will be replaced by a new constituency known as Dundee Central.

Angus

Angus SNP MP Dave Doogan is seeking re-election in the newly named Angus and Perthshire Glens constituency.

He will face competition in the form of current Tory MSP Stephen Kerr, who hopes to jump ship from the Scottish Parliament to Westminster in that constituency.

Tory candidate Stephen Kerr. Image: PA.

Mr Doogan told us: “Being elected as the MP for Angus in 2019 remains the privilege of my life and I remain indebted to the people of Angus for this honour.”

Meanwhile, Labour’s candidate for the seat is a Canterbury councillor who lives over 500 miles away.

Fife

In Fife, Glenrothes MP Peter Grant announced he will not stand again after first being elected in 2015.

Douglas Chapman, who represents Dunfermline and West Fife, has also said he will not return to the Commons after claiming there had been an internal plot to unseat him.

Fife Councillor Naz Anis-Miah will fight to retain the seat for the SNP.

He stepped in to replace Rosyth Councillor Brian Goodall, who quit just weeks after being selected as the candidate.

Mr Anis-Miah will be running against Labour Councillor Graeme Downie.

Neale Hanvey MP
Neale Hanvey MP. Image: PA

Alba Party MP Neale Hanvey will stand again in Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy.

He was first elected as an independent candidate while suspended by the SNP, and later defected to Alex Salmond’s pro-independence group.

Labour is running Palestine aid charity boss Melanie Ward for the Fife constituency.

She was picked to replace previous candidate Wilma Brown, who was forced to quit after liking highly offensive posts on social media.

Fife Councillor Lesley Backhouse will contest the constituency for the SNP.

Wendy Chamberlain MP. Image: PA

Elsewhere in the Kingdom, Liberal Democrat Wendy Chamberlain – who has a majority of just over 1,300 – is hoping to hold onto her North East Fife seat.

The seat was previously one of the most closely fought in the UK – with the SNP holding it with just two votes in 2017 before losing it to Ms Chamberlain in 2019.

Cupar Councillor Stefan Hoggan-Radu will run for the SNP.

Perth and Kinross

Veteran SNP MP Pete Wishart, who has sat in the House of Commons since 2001, has announced his intention to seek re-election.

His current Perth and North Perthshire constituency is to be replaced with a new Perth and Kinross-shire seat – which contains about 60% of the area he currently serves.

SNP MP Pete Wishart. Image: Mhairi Edwards/DC Thomson

He will be standing against former Ochil and South Perthshire MP Luke Graham, who lost his seat in 2019.

Mr Wishart recently said he was bemused that three other pro-independence candidates might be running in his constituency.

The rest of the constituency will be made up by the current area represented by Ochil and South Perthshire MP John Nicolson.

Mr Nicolson told The Courier he will also seek re-election in the new Alloa and Grangemouth constituency.

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