 | 'Under Holyrood rules, if Ms Scanlon becomes the candidate, she will have to resign her Holyrood seat. Her place as a list MSP would be filled by Dave Petrie, the next name below her on the Tory regional list in 2003. If she fails to win Moray, she will be out of a job.' Steve Bargeton, political editor, in the Courier, 29 th March 2006. |  |
SCOTTISH TORY MSP Mary Scanlon is to stand down from Holyrood to seek election as a first-past-the-post MSP.
Ms Scanlon, a regional MSP for the Highlands and Islands and former Dundee lecturer, is seeking selection as the Tory candidate in the Moray by-election triggered by the death of the SNP's Margaret Ewing.
Under Holyrood rules, if Ms Scanlon becomes the candidate, she will have to resign her Holyrood seat.
Her place as a list MSP would be filled by Dave Petrie, the next name below her on the Tory regional list in 2003. If she fails to win Moray, she will be out of a job.
At the 2003 Holyrood election the SNP had a majority of 5312 over the Tories, with Labour in third place and the Liberal Democrats in fourth.
Ms Scanlon (58), who has stood for the Tories in North East Fife, has been an MSP since 1999.
'This weekend has been very distressing for everyone who knew Margaret Ewing,' she said. 'She was a genuine and deeply caring woman and I along with the people of Moray will miss her.
'I have admired Margaret's abilities in dealing with people over the 20 or so years she represented Moray, and in many ways I have tried to model myself on her.'
The 2003 Holyrood election result: Margaret Ewing SNP 11,384 (42%); Con 6072 (22.5%); Lab 5157 (19%); LD 3283 (12%); SSP 1085 (4%).
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