Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Exclusive: Ex-Aberdeenshire MP Richard Thomson eyes Holyrood comeback in Angus North and Mearns

Aberdeen City Council co-leader Christian Allard is also understood to be one of the five hopefuls in the running for the seat.

Former SNP MP Richard Thomson wants to be selected as a Holyrood candidate. Image: Supplied.
Former SNP MP Richard Thomson wants to be selected as a Holyrood candidate. Image: Supplied.

Former Gordon SNP MP Richard Thomson is seeking nomination as the party’s pick in Angus North and Mearns next year, the P&J can reveal.

He was toppled in last year’s Westminster election in a knife-edge race against Tory MP Harriet Cross who won the newly-redrawn seat of Gordon and Buchan with a majority of 878.

Now, the ex-MP is seeking to make his political comeback to replace current MSP Mairi Gougeon who will quit Holyrood next year.

A total of five potential candidates are in the running for the seat, including Aberdeen City Council co-leader Christian Allard who we revealed earlier this year is hoping to make a Holyrood return. 

Speaking exclusively to the P&J as nominations closed, Mr Thomson promised to offer a “strong voice that can deliver real results” on the Holyrood stage.

‘I’ve been humbled and taken aback’

He said: “I’ve been humbled and taken aback by the number of the folk – in and out of politics – who since the last election have encouraged me to consider standing for Holyrood.

“Since Mairi Gougeon’s decision to step down at the next election, I’ve been very pleased to receive encouragement from SNP members across the Angus North and Mearns area to get involved in the selection process to choose their next local candidate.

“Mairi leaves a big gap to fill, both as a local MSP and as a cabinet secretary.

Mairi Gougeon MSP.
Mairi Gougeon MSP. Image: Mhairi Edwards/DC Thomson.

“If selected and then later elected, I’d like to think that I have what it takes to make sure that this area continues to have hard-working, strong and effective voices at the heart of the decision-making process.”

A former leader of Aberdeenshire Council between 2015 and 2017, he later represented the Gordon constituency at Westminster between 2019 until last year when he lost his seat to the Tories. 

Mr Thomson is understood to be a close ally of SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn who is also targeting a Holyrood seat next year.

The constituency takes in from Stonehaven in Aberdeenshire to Forfar in Angus.

Aberdeen City councillor Michael Hutchison and Aberdeenshire councillor Dawn Black are also understood to be potential candidates in the seat, along with Lyn Jardine, who is currently a councillor in East Lothian.

Miranda Radley, Aberdeen City Council’s housing convener, was also nominated but is understood to have pulled out of this race in favour of another.

SNP insiders said interest in the seat – one of the SNP’s strongholds – had been high.

Conversation