FORMER provost Douglas McAllister has been selected as the Labour candidate in Clydebank in the next Holyrood election.

The Labour councillor was confirmed on Saturday by the Clydebank and Milngavie constituency Labour party as having won the contest against solicitor Gurpreet Singh Johal.

Councillor McAllister, who represents the Kilpatrick ward, was nominated last month by the Unite union and its affiliated branches.

The solicitor will face off against Clydebank Waterfront councillor Marie McNair who will be trying to keep the constituency for the SNP as current MSP Gil Paterson retires.

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Cllr McAllister took 41 per cent of first preference votes in the 2017 council elections, down slightly from his 48 per cent in 2012.

He previously represented the former Hardgate ward, where he won 59 per cent of the vote in the 2003 council election - the same poll in which Cllr McNair was first elected, for Labour, in the former Dumbarton ward of Barloan/Overtoun.

Both councillors grew up in North Drumry.

Cllr McAllister served as West Dunbartonshire Council's provost from 2012 to 2017.

He told the Post: "I was delighted to receive the support of the Labour Party members of Clydebank and Milngavie and that of the Unite and Unison trade unions.

"It’s time for a change in Clydebank.

"The SNP have been in power for 13 years. They have stopped listening to the concerns of Clydebank people, and that is why I believe the Labour party has turned to a lawyer from Clydebank who lives in Clydebank.

"I will fight for my fellow Bankies in the Scottish Parliament if elected in May, but to do that I need the support and votes from the town.

"I hope my fellow Bankies will recognise that I have the necessary experience to represent them effectively and a proven track record of success over the last 17 years in Duntocher, Faifley and Hardgate."

Mr Paterson won re-election as the area's MSP in 2016 with 49 per cent of the vote, up from 2011, when he unseated Labour's Des McNulty.

Mr McNulty had represented the area since the Scottish Parliament was established in 1999.