Scottish Labour has chosen an oil and gas engineer to fight the Aberdeen South seat in the general election.
Callum O’Dwyer, 25, who was born and raised in the north-east, said he was proud to work in an industry that had brought so much prosperity to the area.
But he added: “Given the recent downturn, we have to fight to secure a long term future for the industry and the workers whose livelihoods depend on it.”
The seat was held by Dame Anne Begg from 1997 until she was defeated by the SNP’s Callum McCaig in 2015 who won with 41.6% of the vote.
Also among the party’s candidates for the June 8 contest is Olivia Bell, who is standing in Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross.
A former journalist, she has been working as parliamentary assistant to Labour MSPs Rhoda Grant and David Stewart.
The 59-year-old grandmother, who lives near Inverness, acknowledged it would be a tough fight but said she was up for the challenge.
She added: “Women are under-represented at almost every level of power in Scotland and I am honoured to be one of those selected.
“Only Labour can defeat the SNP in seats across Scotland, and by voting Labour in this election we can send Nicola Sturgeon
a message that we don’t want another independence referendum.”
Kezia Dugdale led the selection panel which chose 29 women and 29 men to stand alongside Ian Murray, the only Labour MP to be returned in Scotland in 2015.
“Every single candidate selected for the general election will be a champion for their local constituency, not a cheerleader for an unwanted second independence referendum,” she said.
Labour’s other candidates in the north and north-east are: Orr Vinegold in Aberdeen North; Michael Kelly in Argyll and Bute; Caitlin Stott in Banff and Buchan; Kirsten Muat in Gordon; Mike Robb in Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey; Joanne Kirby in Moray; Ealasaid MacDonald in the Western Isles; Peter O’Donnghaile in Ross, Skye and Lochaber, Barry Black in West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine and Robina Barton in Orkney and Shetland.
A Scottish Tory spokesman said: “It is clear from last year’s results that only the Scottish Conservatives can take on and defeat the SNP, particularly here in the north-east.”