Edinburgh councillor who quit over party tensions to stand as Labour candidate in Highlands

A former Edinburgh Labour councillor who quit amid reports of internal tensions is bidding to become an MSP.

Marion Donaldson is standing in the Highlands Pic: Gordon Fraser

Marion Donaldson, who represented Leith Walk between 2015 and 2019, has been selected as Labour candidate for Caithness, Sutherland and Ross and has been placed number three on the party's regional list for the Highlands and Islands.

Ms Donaldson, who grew up in Skye, was selected unanimously by local members in an online meeting.

She was elected to the city council in a rare double by-election in Leith Walk in September 2015 and served as vice-convener of finance in the SNP-Labour coalition.

But she resigned from the council in January 2019 after being off for health reasons for three months.

Sources said she had come under attack within the Labour group over proposed budget cuts.

In 2018, she made an unsuccessful attempt to become Westminster candidate for Edinburgh North and Leith.

She now works in the offshore-wind sector as a start-up adviser to small and medium-sized enterprises.

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