I was delighted to receive this endorsement from John Riley of Tryst branch - thank you John.

Fellow members, I’m backing Michelle Thomson as our SNP candidate to secure the Falkirk East constituency at the 2021 Scottish Parliament elections.

I have been an active SNP member for many years but have never previously publicly endorsed an individual as my preferred candidate.

In the run up to the 2014 Independence Referendum, I was impressed with Michelle’s work as media spokesperson for Business for Scotland. Having viewed the recent local hustings and researched the biographies of our four potential candidates, I am firmly of the opinion that Michelle is the clear frontrunner to represent our diverse area of Falkirk East.

Our best chance of achieving independence is likely to be during the next term of the Scottish Parliament. In order to help achieve this, I am convinced that we need to choose Michelle as our candidate.

Michelle Thomson has extensive life, business and political experience.  She is an excellent communicator, with a proven track record in dealing with hostile media.  She has a breadth of business experience at a senior level in banking, corporate finance, IT, research and business change.

Michelle is an empathetic listener and is excellent at building relationships and networks both locally and nationally.  I believe that she has the necessary leadership experience and abilities to be our MSP and would work tirelessly to achieve a strong independent democratic Scotland.  

We need Independence. We need the best candidate. We need Michelle for Falkirk East.

John Riley SNP

Tryst Branch.