The Scottish Nationalists are pinning their hopes of claiming a tenth seat at the Moray Council on 32-year-old mother of three Kirsty Reid.
Mrs Reid will contest the Elgin City North by-election next month, her candidacy confirmed yesterday – just 24 hours before nominations for the seat vacated by Barry Jarvis are due to close.
With her own children attending Bishopmill Primary and pre-school, a main focus for Kirsty will be the critical level of school places in Elgin and the need for additional housing investment.
Announcing that she is to stand Mrs Reid said: “I am delighted to have been selected to stand as SNP candidate in Elgin City North.
“As someone who was born and brought up in Elgin the prospect of being able to represent my community is very exciting. I believe I have the drive and commitment to do that job well and to the benefit of the people of Elgin.
“The SNP has worked hard to support working families in Elgin through the Council Tax Freeze, making the first serious investment in new Council Housing in decades to tackle waiting lists and investing massively in the flood scheme which has very recently proved its worth despite having a few months to completion.
“Currently there is significant concern about the pressures on our primary schools in Elgin and the SNP are pushing hard to get urgent action to address this and that will be an immediate priority if I am elected.
“I am asking people in Elgin City North for their support in this by-election and in return I will do my utmost to represent them and the wider Elgin community in Moray Council.”
Four candidates have now been confirmed in the by-election race, Morvern Forest for the Green Party, Craig Graham for Scottish Labour and Alex Griffiths from the Scottish Conservative Party.