VOTERS in the Borders are facing a Holyrood by-election on the same day as the general election, after the Tory MSP John Lamont resigned his seat to stand for Westminster.
Mr Lamont, who was selected last week as the candidate for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk in June, announced he was quitting Holyrood to focus on the June 8 poll.
His decision leaves a vacancy in the overlapping Holyrood seat of Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, which he won by 7736 over the SNP in 2016.
His decision puts pressure on his SNP opponent in that race, energy minister Paul Wheelhouse, to resign as a list MSP and contest the first-past-the-post seat.
In 2006, Mary Scanlon, a Tory list MSP in the Highlands & Islands, stood down to fight the Moray byelection, only to lose to the SNP’s Richard Lochhead.
After a spell outside parliament, she returned as a list MSP at the 2007 Scottish election.
Holyrood sources suggested it was possible the byelection to replace Mr Lamont would be on the same day as the general election.
Mr Lamont said it had been “a great privilege” to serve the people of the Borders as an MSP for the past 10 years, and said he had “always put local people before party politics”.
He said: “This is one of the most important General Elections Scotland has ever had.
"In the Borders, it will be straight fight between myself and the SNP.
I have decided to stand down as an MSP to allow me to focus all of my energy on this important contest and to ensure the electorate have a clear choice between the contenders.
"With this decision, no one can doubt my commitment to representing the Borders.”
Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson said: “Voters in the Borders can either pick John Lamont, who will put the Borders first and who will oppose Nicola Sturgeon’s damaging plans for a second referendum, or they can pick another nationalist who will continue to pursue the obsession with taking Scotland out of the United Kingdom.”
The SNP's Callum Kerr won Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk is MP Callum Kerr with a majority of just 328.
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