DAVID Linden has a lot to organise.

The new MP for Glasgow East is hiring staff, finding an office and preparing for his maiden speech.

However, the self-described “Cranhill boy” says the biggest job is planning a party for his son’s second birthday.

The youngster’s milestone is all the more special for Linden and his wife Roslyn as they were told they could never have children.

The couple, who met at church, only discovered they were expecting 19 weeks into the pregnancy and Isaac was delivered prematurely 13 weeks later.

“We thought we’d never have children, then we only had 13 weeks to prepare for becoming parents,” said Linden. “Now I’ve been on a soft play tour for the last two years.”

According to Linden, who grew up in the area he now represents, standing for election was as nerve-wracking as waiting for Isaac to arrive.

The first-time politician was elected with a majority of just 75 votes after a gruelling campaign that played up his local links and focused on doorstep activism.

He attended the count with Roslyn, from Stornoway, and the result was announced on their wedding anniversary.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been that nervous,” he said. “It’s up there with sitting in that C-section theatre.

“I thought there was maybe a chance I would go into politics at some point, but I never imagined I’d be an MP. Everything just fell into place.”

In fact, the 27-year-old turned down requests to put himself forward for Westminster in 2015, when Natalie McGarry won the seat for the SNP from Labour’s Margaret Curran.

McGarry had to finish out her term as an independent after she was accused of and then charged with fraud offences.

In the meantime, Linden has worked for long-term friend Alison Thewliss, MP for Glasgow Central.

“I was genuinely happy doing the backroom stuff,” Linden said. “If I had lost, I would have been going back to a job I loved.

“It’s one of the privileges of my life to say I have been working with my best friend for the past two years. We’ve known each other for a decade and there’s something about us being together and bouncing ideas off each other.

“We’re in neighbouring constituencies as well, so we’ll need to work together on common issues.”

Thanks to his knowledge of Westminster systems and structures, Linden was nominated by officials to give tours to some more of the new intake of MPs, including members of Plaid Cymru and the DUP.

During his time with Thewliss, the pair collaborated on opposition to the family cap and rape clause, as well as immigration issues and support for breastfeeding.

However, Linden says his priority is earning the trust of constituents and he plans to continue door-knocking to help get to people even before they need him.

“People here have a lack of trust in MPs of all classes,” he tells The National. “That’s why I spent a lot of the campaign speaking about being a local guy. This area will probably always be my home.

“I wanted to do something to show that and I was sworn in wearing a Bannerman High tie.

“My mum went in to the school to get one for me, and they thought I must have been some brainbox who had done all six years and gone to uni, and they gave me an upper school tie. Actually, I left at 16 and got a business administration apprenticeship with Glasgow City Council. I want young people from this area to know they can achieve too.”

Recalling the campaign, he told how he chapped on one door to receive a hug from the woman behind it. Linden didn’t know her, but it turned out he had gone to school with her son. “She told me ‘we’re all behind you, we’re going to be so proud of you',” he said.