Anas Sarwar to stand as MSP list candidate

Former Scottish Labour deputy leader Anas Sarwar has announced he is launching a bid to become an MSP.

Anas Sarwar is seeking election to the Scottish Parliament. Picture: John Devlin

The 32-year-old ex-Glasgow Central MP said he would stand for a place on the Glasgow regional list for the 2016 Holyrood election.

Mr Sarwar was one of the big-name losers in this year’s general election, yielding his Westminster seat to the SNP.

Voters will go to the polls in May to elect 73 constituency MSPs with the first-past-the-post system and use their second vote to elect 56 regional list MSPs by an additional member system.

Speaking on STV’s Scotland Tonight programme, Mr Sarwar said: “I obviously had a decision to make about my own future and actually what I passionately care about is the Labour Party and I still passionately care about Scotland.

“I genuinely believe the best vehicle of change for our country is still the Labour Party.

“I wanted to put myself forward to fight for my city, fight for Glasgow, but also fight for Labour values right across the UK.”

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