BLAIR McDougall can stake a claim to be the man who saved the UK. 

The pro-Union Better Together victory was not by the margin needed to bury the Scottish independence clamour for a generation. 

And his beloved Labour Party, an organisation he has been immersed in for his entire adult life, paid a heavy price for its association with the Tories. 

But it was touch and go as the vote loomed, the No side won and Mr McDougall, as the Better Together campaign director, can claim credit for that.

Read more: Top Tory veteran in poll position to become Scotland's pre-eminent councillor

One of the most prominent background figures in Scots, if not UK, politics, he is on the frontline now, contesting his home constituency of East Renfrewshire, the archetypal New Labour area held by friend and former boss Jim Murphy for the best part of two decades. 

It was a solid No area in 2014 and pro-Remain in 2016, ideal, one would imagine, for Mr McDougall to capitalise on an election narrative where referenda again hang heavy. 

But he has a problem. A 31-year-old, who only joined the Conservatives less than two years ago, Paul Masterton was driven by fears over constitutional uncertainty and is tipped as the potential favourite. This must bug Mr McDougall?

Read more: Top Tory veteran in poll position to become Scotland's pre-eminent councillor

“In a crowded marketplace of sending Nicola Sturgeon a message there’s a clear choice between an albeit very nice lad from Paisley or the person who ran the No campaign in 2014 to do that,” he says.

“The Tory narrative about me is I’m an irrelevance. For an irrelevance they’re talking about me an awful lot. All things being equal I need one in four of their votes to win.”

East Renfrewshire was arguably the biggest shock of the SNP’s 2015 landslide with Jim Murphy losing to unknown SNP rookie Kirsten Oswald. 

Between 2010 and 2015 the SNP surged from third-place also-rans to a victory over the then Scottish Labour leader by several thousand votes.

Read more: Top Tory veteran in poll position to become Scotland's pre-eminent councillor

The result also exposed other local dynamics. Far from its reputation as one of Scotland’s most prosperous areas, where New Labour tussles with the Tories, “East Ren” has swathes of middle-earning and public sector workers paying over-the-odds mortgages to give their children access to some of the country’s best schools and a life in Glasgow’s better suburbs. 

Mr McDougall insists it is this demographic and not just the constitutionally concerned who could return the area to Labour.

“Firstly, the SNP vote is down. That surge and enthusiasm has dissipated,” he says. “The SNP/Leave voters are likely to stay at home but I’m picking up a lot the public sector workers disillusioned with the health service and education and who are certainly not Tories. 

“The SNP is beginning to suffer from incumbency and most surprisingly, the marginal Yes voters, are desperate to move on. Lots of this area would have had real-terms pay cuts. People’s income comes up time and again. For an area considered very affluent a lot of people are just clinging on. 

Read more: Top Tory veteran in poll position to become Scotland's pre-eminent councillor

“It’s an area of high house prices, nice schools and lovely shops but it is also an area where a lot of people struggle.”

Directly across the road from Mr McDougall’s campaign HQ  Kirsten Oswald is running her bid for re-election. 

A scrap for the Unionist vote is no bad thing for the former college HR manager, allowing her to come up through the middle. But colleagues describe her as diligent and in two years at Westminster has a reputation for a constituency focus. 

Brexit, Ms Oswald insists, is a doorstep issue. The area attracts many overseas nationals, with worries mounting over the impact of withdrawal from the EU and, she says, noises coming from a Conservative Party fast making inroads into Ukip’s vote.

Read more: Top Tory veteran in poll position to become Scotland's pre-eminent councillor

“Voters recognise our obvious position on the EU, on refugees”, she says.

“The message is resonating on the doorstep and people want a strong voice for Scotland being heard at Westminster. They appreciate what we’ve done in the past two years. They want someone listening to them, responding.”

She has championed local campaigns, including military veterans suffering rare forms of cancer, a local man considered a miscarriage of justice languishing in an Indian jail and the refusal of the Home Office to allow Church of Scotland representatives from overseas entry to the UK.

Synonymous with its Jewish community, East Renfrewshire has a larger Muslim population and growing Catholic middle class, which recently migrated from Glasgow’s south side. 

Read more: Top Tory veteran in poll position to become Scotland's pre-eminent councillor

Ms Oswald said: “I’ve been able to stick up for religious communities and that’s  important in this community. It’s a constituency of people with strong religious faith.”

Meanwhile Mr Masterton is a strong believer in having a Government voice as a local representative. The big driver, he sees on the campaign stump, is stopping the SNP “in its tracks”.

So is it really just between him and the SNP?

“This is a two-horse race. And I can’t quite work out if Blair McDougall thinks he’s a horse or not,” says the solicitor.

“He’s a name that’s only of interest to those in the Scottish political bubble. Jim Murphy and Ken Mackintosh both lost and they had a much higher personal local profile than Blair so I think he’s absolutely no chance. 

Read more: Top Tory veteran in poll position to become Scotland's pre-eminent councillor

“It’s myself versus Kirsten and its going to be tight.”

The Tories had a good local election last month, becoming the biggest party on the council but forced into opposition by an SNP/Labour coalition. 

Mr Masterton added: “The people of East Renfrewshire could benefit from having an MP on the Government benches with more direct links into areas of government where we can get things done.

“We’d have an MP to challenge the SNP and Labour-run council, someone to help keep the tax burden as low as possible, to keep the City Deal on track and to be more available, visible and accessible than previous representatives.”