LIBERAL DEMOCRAT Alison McInnes has been the party's sole female voice at Holyrood for the past five years.
The Lib Dems' second-placed candidate on the North East Scotland list was first elected in 2007 and returned again in 2011 as part of the much-diminished parliamentary group of five led by Willie Rennie.
As the party's spokeswoman for justice, Ms McInnes, 58, has spent much of the past five years taking the Scottish Government to task over its decision to create a single police force and the impact of the policy on policing in Scotland.
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She has also campaigned on local issues, including infrastructure improvements for the North East, such as the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route, Crossrail and a station at Kintore, and the dualling of the A90.
Originally from Irvine, North Ayrshire, Ms McInnes attended Irvine Royal Academy and McLaren High School, Callander, before studying at the University of Glasgow. She has lived in Ellon, Aberdeenshire, for more than 25 years.
A councillor for 15 years prior to entering parliament, she was first elected to Gordon District Council in 1992. She went on to represent Ellon and District on Aberdeenshire Council between 1995 and 2007.
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