A WHITECROOK councillor has become the latest SNP politician to announce her run to be Clydebank's next MSP.

Marie McNair said at the weekend she had decided to put her name forward to follow in the footsteps of Gil Paterson MSP, who is retiring at the May 2021 elections.

The councillor for Clydebank Waterfront joins the all-female shortlist as one candidate - Catalan activist Valentina Servera Clavell - has switched to competing for the Shettleston seat.

Roza Salih, one of the Drumchapel campaigners known as the “Glasgow Girls”, was first to announce her bid last month. Debra Torrance and Kate Waddell have also put their names forward.

Cllr McNair swiftly won the backing of MP Martin Docherty-Hughes, as well as other prominent party members in the town. The result is expected next month.

The council's convener for health and social care services told the Post: "I live and breathe Clydebank and Milngavie having grown up in the constituency.

"I still live and work here and have been a local councillor for the last 17 years. I have held a range of senior positions on West Dunbartonshire Council.

"Throughout these 17 years I have stood up for many and if selected I will be a candidate who has been on our doorsteps campaigning as a local councillor representing a council ward that runs from one end of the Clydebank part of the constituency to the other.

"I will use my experience of being an elected member to benefit the whole of the constituency - whether you are in Clydebank, Bearsden North, Old Kilpatrick, Milngave, Craigton or Duntocher - you can count on me.

"I care passionately for Scotland and despair about how it is being held back by Westminster rule. I will be a strong local candidate with a proven track record of campaigning and delivering on local priorities."

Mr Docherty-Hughes said: "Commitment and a passion for public service are central to Marie's politics. With a political journey to independence which mirrors that of so many, I am delighted to fully endorse Marie's nomination."

Cllr McNair, a former St Margaret of Scotland Hospice nurse, was first elected to West Dunbartonshire Council for the Labour Party in the former ward of Barloan/Overtoun, winning election again for Labour in Clydebank Waterfront in 2007, as an independent in 2012 and in 2017 for the SNP.