A FOOD bank founder honoured by Boris Johnson for his coronavirus crisis work now aims to unseat the former leader of the Scottish Conservatives, The National can reveal.
Charandeep Singh was awarded a Points of Light Award for his lifeline work with the Sikh Food Bank, which has provided more than 80,000 meals to vulnerable Scots since its foundation during lockdown. The multilingual service operates in Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow.
Now the 30-year-old – the youngest ever depute director of the Scottish Chamber of Commerce – aims to win the seat held by Johnson’s one-time man-in-Holyrood, Jackson Carlaw, and become the country’s first Sikh MSP.
The Eastwood MSP led the Scottish Tories in the stead of Ruth Davidson until his surprise resignation in July. He took 35.7% of the constituency vote in 2016, with the SNP and Labour narrowly behind.
Now Singh is the latest potential candidate to put himself forward for selection to become the SNP’s local choice for next year’s contest.
Others include councillor Colm Merrick, who led Kirsten Oswald’s campaign to regain the overlapping East Renfrewshire constituency in December’s General Election. Alex Kerr, a former European Parliament candidate and current postholder at the Scottish Parliament, was the first to declare an interest. Qasim Hamid, the former organiser of the SNP’s Glasgow Regional Association, has also put himself forward.
They face competition from councillors Annette Ireland and Caroline Bamforth, who represent Clarkston, Netherlee, Busby and Williamwood and Newton Mearns South and Eaglesham respectively. Both are the first SNP women to represent their wards.
Singh said running the food bank laid bare “the inequalities in Scotland”, stating: “As a parliamentarian, I will fight to close the gap on poverty and income inequality and challenge the Tory party’s austerity agenda.”
He went on: “I have built a career outside of politics, working in business, education and community activism. The 2021 election is a seismic moment for Scotland.
“An impending chaotic Brexit and the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic means the prevailing health and economic circumstances will weigh heavily on the Scottish Parliament.
“I’m standing as a candidate to bring my experience, insight and leadership to Holyrood and help take Scotland forward.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel