SHADOW Scottish Secretary Lesley Laird has become the first person to enter the contest to be Scottish Labour’s next deputy leader.

The Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath MP said that, after acting as interim deputy leader, she had “come to the conclusion that I am the best placed” person to do the job full-time.

Ms Laird already has a second job as a Fife councillor, which she is being urged to quit.

It emerged this month she had attended just two council meetings since becoming an MP.

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Writing for the Red Robin website, she said she brought “a lifetime of experience outside politics and a strong collaborative ethos”.

Despite Scottish Labour’s previous leader, Kezia Dugdale, trying to make the party more autonomous, Ms Laird said she wanted unity under Jeremy Corbyn and current Scottish leader Richard Leonard.

She said: “It is my belief that there should be no dividing lines between Westminster, Holyrood and council chambers across Scotland.

“It is this united front which piles pressure on Governments north and south of the border.

“I have built a strong working relationship with Jeremy and Richard, and taking on the role of Deputy Leader on an interim basis, I have come to the conclusion that I am best placed to continue this work.”

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Ms Laird, 59, a former“senior talent manager” for RBS, was elected a Fife councillor in 2012, and became the authority’s deputy leader in 2014.

She was elected to Westminster for the first time last year.

Scottish Labour’s previous deputy leader, Alex Rowley, quit in December.

Nominations for the deputy leader’s post open in mid-May and close at the end of August.