SNP name candidate for Kirkcaldy to ‘defy pollsters’ and win Westminster seat

Cllr Backhouse, who lives in Burntisland, has represented Ward 9 on Fife Council which covers Burntisland, Kinghorn and Western Kirkcaldy since 2017, taking on her party’s housing and communities portfolio, and focusing on the policy of buybacks of council homes to cut housing waiting lists.

She said she wanted to “upset the pollsters” by winning the seat for the SNP for the first time since Roger Mullin held it between 2015 and 2017.

Her campaign will be centred on three key strands, among others: energy, social security and independence, highlighting how Westminster control is failing ordinary people across Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy, and Scotland as a whole.The announcement comes as the local SNP branches step up their ground campaign efforts, with a series of street stalls and new leaflets being released. It also follows the large march and rally for Scottish independence held in Glasgow at the weekend.

Cllr Lesley Backhouse said: “It is an honour and a privilege to be selected as the SNP’s parliamentary candidate. Our communities need and deserve a strong, progressive MP who will stand up against Westminster austerity, whether it’s of the Tory or Labour variety.“Scotland generates vast amounts of energy but has no control over it, resulting in higher bills for all of us and too many folk being scared to switch on their heating - and while callous policies like the Tories’ two-child cap have been pushing children into poverty across Fife, Keir Starmer has shamefully refused to commit to scrapping them.”She said a vote for her was also a vote for independence, adding: “We have travelled far down the road towards independence, but now we’re in the final straight -and I will work tirelessly to upset the pollsters and be your last MP at Westminster.”