SNP figures back challenger in Lisa Cameron selection row

An MSP and a former Holyrood figurehead have backed a challenger to sitting MP Lisa Cameron in a candidate selection row.

Dr Lisa Cameron has suggested she may trigger a byelection if she does not win the nomination to be the party's candidate for East Kilbride and Strathaven in the forthcoming general election.

The former NHS consultant has represented the South Lanarkshire constituency since 2015 and said she had faced "difficulties" with SNP colleagues in a 12 month "ordeal" since speaking out against Patrick Grady. He was suspended after being being found to have engaged in sexual misconduct against a young staffer. 

SNP digital media manager Grant Costello is challenging Cameron for the nomination. He has now won support from local MSP Collette Stevenson and former deputy presiding officer of the Scottish Parliament, Linda Fabiani, Stevenson's predecessor.

Endorsing Costello, Stevenson said: "I believe he will be a great MP for East Kilbride and Strathaven. Having grown up here he knows only too well the issues that matter to the residents in the constituency."

Fabiani, who was the local MSP for a decade until her 2021 retirement, said: "We need representatives at Westminster who will stand for Scotland, who will stand up for independence and make people realise that Scotland needs independence. Scotland needs people like Grant Costello. East Kilbride and Strathaven needs an MP like Grant Costello."

At the last general election, Cameron won the seat with a majority of more than 13,300 votes.

She said she would "probably" consider her position as an MP if members do not back her candidacy.