Jackie Baillie was reselected at a meeting last night by members of Dumbarton Constituency Labour Party to contest the seat again at next year’s Holyrood election.

The MSP has held the seat for Labour since 1999 when she became the area’s first ever female parliamentarian following the inaugural Scottish Parliament elections.

Jackie was re-elected in 2011 on an increased majority, an election where Dumbarton was notable for being the only seat in Scotland to record a swing from the SNP to Labour.

Jackie said:

“It has been an honour to serve as the MSP for Dumbarton for the past sixteen years. Standing up for Labour values in the face of SNP and Tory austerity is not only a great privilege but a real necessity.

“I am proud of my record as a strong campaigner who stands up for local people. While in government I introduced the first national strategy for tackling domestic violence against women and provided the funding to support women’s aid services. I also led calls for the Erskine Bridge tolls to be scrapped  – something which has made a huge difference to people’s lives in West Dunbartonshire and Argyll and Bute.

“One of my proudest moments during this session was forcing the SNP to concede that it had the power and the resources to cancel out the effects of the bedroom tax in Scotland. John Swinney said he didn’t want to ‘let Westminster off the hook’ in the run up to the referendum, but my backbench bill forced him to do the right thing by vulnerable Scots and effectively abolished the bedroom tax.

“I am grateful for the opportunity to stand again in Dumbarton Constituency and  look forward to leading a positive campaign based around the issues that really matter to local people