Edinburgh Tory councillor beats ex-Ukip deputy leader to become candidate in next year's Holyrood election

TORY councillor Graham Hutchison has beaten a former deputy leader of Ukip to become the Conservative candidate for Edinburgh Eastern at next year’s Scottish Parliament elections.

Graham Hutchison will stand in Edinburgh Eastern next year

David Campbell Bannerman, a former MEP who defected from the Tories to Ukip and then returned to the fold, was a surprise contender for the nomination. He previously stood for Holyrood in 2007, while he was in Ukip, on the Highlands and Islands list.

Cllr Hutchison, who represents Almond ward, emerged the victor in a three-way contest with Mr Campbell Bannerman and party activist Christopher Cowdy.

He said: “I’m delighted to have been selected and grateful to the members locally and I’m very much looking forward to getting out on the campaign trail.”

Cllr Hutchison stood against Nicola Sturgeon in Glasgow Southside at the last Holyrood elections in 2016 and was Tory candidate in Edinburgh West at last year’s general election.

Mr Campbell Bannerman, a distant relative of the Liberal prime minister Henry Campbell Bannerman who won a landslide against the Tories in 1906, studied politics and economics at Edinburgh University and works in public relations. He was a Tory councillor in the south of England, a special adviser to Northern Ireland Secretary Sir Patrick Mayhew, 1996-97, and he stood for the Conservatives in Glasgow Rutherglen at the 1997 general election, but joined Ukip in 2004 and was appointed deputy leader by Nigel Farage in 2006.

He was elected to the European Parliament in 2009 and was the main author of Ukip’s 2010 election manifesto, but in 2011 he rejoined the Conservative Party, continuing as an MEP until 2019.

A senior Tory source said he had not been aware of Mr Campbell Bannerman’s interest in standing next year. But he said: “At the last Scottish elections he came and helped the campaign in Edinburgh. He has family connections up here. I’m surprised he wants to do it – his name hasn’t been mentioned in any speculation about seats. If he’s just going for seats now it’s a bit late – all the better seats have been selected for quite a while. It seems strange, although he could still go for the list.”

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