Woman at centre of SNP 'love triangle' scandal stands for party in Scottish council elections

A woman who was previously at the centre of a “love triangle” scandal in the SNP is to stand for the party at the coming local elections.

Serena Cowdy has been selected as a candidate for Angus Council in May.

She hit the headlines in 2016 after it emerged she was involved in an affair with Stewart Hosie, the SNP’s then deputy leader.

Serena Cowdy appeared in a video posted by the Angus SNP branch

Mr Hosie, the MP for Dundee East, stood down as deputy and separated from his then wife, the SNP MSP Shona Robison, a close friend of Nicola Sturgeon.

It also emerged Ms Cowdy had been in a previous relationship with Angus Brendan MacNeil, the SNP MP for the Western Isles.

Ms Cowdy, who previously worked as a political journalist, reportedly described SNP MPs as the “Mujahideen of British politics”.

She and Mr Hosie married in 2018.

In a video posted by the Angus SNP branch on Twitter on Friday, Ms Cowdy, who is from Peterborough, encouraged new Scots to register to vote.

She said: “Hi, I’m Serena Cowdy, one of your SNP candidates in Arbroath West, Letham and Friockheim in the upcoming Scottish council elections.”

Ms Cowdy added: “You don’t need to have been born in Scotland in order to vote here.

"You could be from somewhere else in the UK like me or a foreign national from another country.

“If you’ve made Scotland your home, you can vote and help change things for the better. You do need to register in time.”

Ms Cowdy is standing in the Arbroath West, Letham and Friockheim ward.