SNP selects Fergus Mutch as Aberdeenshire West candidate
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Members of the SNP across Aberdeenshire West have chosen Fergus Mutch as their candidate for the Holyrood elections in May 2021.
The Tories currently hold the seat by a narrow margin of just 900 votes.
In the General Election last year, Fergus reduced the Tory majority in the overlapping Westminster constituency from 8000 votes to just 800.
Fergus, 31, has a background in law, was the SNP’s Head of Communications and Research from 2015 to 2020 and this year helped launch eu+me, Scotland’s new campaign to rejoin the EU.
Commenting on his selection, the SNP’s candidate for Aberdeenshire West said: “Firstly, a huge thank you to the SNP members across Aberdeenshire West who have put their trust in me.
"The next six months will require a great deal of hard work, but our amazing campaign team has the experience and the ambition we need to win.
“I’m so lucky to live in this brilliant part of Scotland — which does so well, but could do so much better to fulfil its potential. Aberdeenshire West needs a strong voice fighting our corner at Holyrood.
“There is no doubt that the past months have been tough on us all.
"We have lost loved ones, our lives have been put on hold, the economy has taken a hammering and our public services have felt the strain.
“Rebuilding from the pandemic will be central to my promise to the people of Aberdeenshire West, and the action we take now will shape the rest of our lives.
“More and more people now share the belief that the way forward is as an independent country.
“How we build a fairer, more prosperous nation through independence will be front and centre of my campaign.”