THE date for the Aberdeen Donside by-election has been set for June 20, with Ukip pledging to field a candidate to test the waters of what will be primarily an SNP-Labour contest.
The contest, triggered by the death of SNP stalwart Brian Adam, will be contested for Labour by city councillor Willie Young who has been formally selected as candidate. The expectation at Holyrood is that list MSP Mark McDonald will resign his North East seat to fight the constituency.
That would trigger the promotion of fellow list candidate Christian Allard, making him the first Frenchman to become a Member of the Scottish Parliament. Mr Allard, who is from Dijon, settled in Scotland 20 years ago and built a seafood exporting business.
Quite what Ukip will try to make of the contest remains to be seen, but Peter Adam, the party's general secretary in Scotland, is busy trying to sound mainstream. "We will select a candidate next weekend, so it's our intention to fight," he said.
"Our branch in Aberdeen is small relative to the resources available to the SNP and Labour. We realise it's a hard nut to crack here, but we have to take strength. It will build for future contests."
Labour has a strong track record in the area at Westminster and council elections and will put up a fierce contest.
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