ONE of the few Holyrood seats never to have been won by the SNP, Dumfriesshire is a place where the constitutional debate gets real.

The border with England along its eastern flank makes independence a key issue with voters.

Although split from top to bottom by the thunderous M74, the seat is overwhelmingly rural in character, with the main towns being Dumfries, Lockerbie, Annan, Langholm, Moffat and Sanquhar, and, of course, Gretna Green.

From the flatlands of the Solway coast, it gets hillier as it roams north into the Southern Uplands and Eskdalemuir Forest.

From the start of devolution until 2016 this seat and its predecessor were Labour-held.

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That changed at the last election when Oliver Mundell gained it for the Tories and Labour came third behind the SNP.

The son of the former Scottish secretary David Mundell, the incumbent is confident he will hold on next week, despite a majority of just 1,230.

He believes what “makes this constituency different is the border”.

The SNP challenger is the SNP’s Joan McAlpine, a well-known MSP who almost won here in 2016, and an outspoken voice in her party on trans rights.

Labour’s Colin Smyth, the party’s constitution spokesperson at Holyrood, is also on the ballot.

Mr Mundell said the proximity of the border and its part in everyday life helped shape opinions on independence and the consequences of Scotland leaving the UK.

He said: “The SNP has never really had a foothold here. People are quite openly SNP in the Central Belt where it’s perfectly normal to be SNP. But here, even Joan McAlpine in her leaflets doesn’t really mention the constitution and frames this election as not being about independence.

“For most people, independence is a key motivation for them in voting. Independence is real for people here because they are in the habit of crossing the border.”

Mr Mundell, who quit the Tory frontbench team last year over the party’s support for the Scottish Government’s travel restrictions, has pointed to “complicated” border rules also driving support away from the SNP.

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He said: “People here are quite resentful. For months we had people coming in to have an ice cream or visit attractions from the Central Belt.

“Once things got out of control, they have been stopped from nipping over the border, which is part of daily life here.”

But Ms McAlpine insists that in Dumfriesshire and the rest of the Scotland, “people have been impressed with the First Minister’s strong leadership during the pandemic”.

She also points to the impact on rural communities in Dumfriesshire of Brexit, propelled forward by the Conservative UK Government during the pandemic, and a policy supported from the outset by Mr Mundell.

She said: “The impact of the Tories’ hard Brexit on a rural economy where large numbers of jobs depend on food production is significant.

“Even farmers who don’t export have complained of the difficulty of getting machinery parts, for example.

“So the Conservative candidate’s long-standing support for Brexit is unpopular in Dumfriesshire.”

Ms McAlpine, who first took up her seat at Holyrood in 2011 on the South Scotland regional list, highlights SNP policies that have helped local communities.

“The creation of South Scotland Enterprise by the SNP is already having an impact here – in particular their £4.8 million investment in PPE makers Alpha Solway, which will create 300 new jobs.

“Elsewhere, the agency has helped rural communities like Langholm with their land buyout and is supporting the regeneration of Dumfries High Street by turning derelict retail property into housing.

“And in a traditionally lower income area, the Scottish Child Payment and free school meals is very attractive to families.”