IT’S the place where the Scottish National Party was born and has been held by the party for more than a decade. But its long-serving MSP is stepping down and party members must now select their candidate for 2021.

Whoever secures the official candidacy for Glasgow Kelvin will be following in historic footsteps – the SNP was formed in the area almost 100 years ago.

As current MSP Sandra White prepares to retire, Sunday National columnist and Women for Independence national committee member Suzanne McLaughlin has revealed she wants to steer the constituency into the future.

The former publican made headlines when she rebranded her Glasgow city centre pub as the Yesbar in support of Scottish independence in the run-up to the 2014 referendum – a decision taken as many firms warned Scots they’d quit the country if Yes won.

After working and growing up within the bounds of the Glasgow Kelvin constituency, she’s asking local SNP members to make her their 2021 candidate.

Those bounds stretch from the West End to the concrete sprawl of the city centre, taking in communities of means and others marked by deprivation.

McLaughlin, a trade unionist, says the complexity and diversity of the area is often overlooked: “People think of Kelvin as the ‘leafy’ West End and the spires of Glasgow University, but importantly it also covers areas where people are struggling.

“My family are from Anderston. I was the daughter of a teenage single mum who lived in a room and kitchen in abject poverty, and today one in four kids in this constituency still live in poverty.

‘‘I remember my mum going without. I have lived that life, I know what that is and I know where people are coming from.

‘‘I still live in Anderston in a housing association flat, just minutes from where I was born.

‘‘My younger daughter goes to school in the constituency. Every single decision I would make if I were selected as a candidate and elected as MSP for this area would affect me directly as well as my family, my friends and neighbours.

“I started a business in the constituency and employed hundreds of people over 10 years, working class kids who needed a start or a job to help them through college or university, so I understand that side of things too and just how important it is to protect our economy.

“All those years I saw my mum struggling, Labour were in almost total power in Scotland, and nothing changed for us and people like us.

“People often think politicians are a step removed from them and their lives. That’s not me. I put my livelihood on the line for a better nation because I was convinced that we in Scotland could do better for our people. I will be just as courageous for the people of Glasgow Kelvin.

“I believe in an independent socialist Scotland and I want it to be a reality as soon as possible. Westminster has failed the people of Scotland and no longer should decisions about us be made without us.’’ McLaughlin, who was born and has lived most of her life in the Kelvin area and brought her children up in the constituency, is the third woman to put herself forward.

The others are Kaukab Stewart, a schoolteacher and member of the party’s ruling NEC, and lawyer Caroline Welsh, a board member of the Glasgow Jazz Festival.

The successful candidate will inherit responsibility for continuing the SNP’s strong association with the region. The party was formed there in December 1933 in a merger of the National Party of Scotland and the Scottish Party.

That Hillhead meeting was followed in an inauguration four months later at St Andrew’s Mid Hall, now part of the celebrated Mitchell Library, which is also within the Kelvin constituency limits.

White, who won the seat from Labour’s Pauline McNeill in 2007, said it has been “the honour of [her] life” to represent the area. Vowing to continue campaigning for independence and the people of Palestine and Catalonia, she went on: “I have been involved in frontline politics for the majority of my life, spending over three decades as an elected representative. I first became involved to fight for social justice and equality for all.

‘‘I would like to hope that my contribution over these many years has delivered an improvement to people’s lives both locally and further afield.”

Paying tribute to White, McLaughlin, a former board member of feminist organisation Engender, said: “It was Sandra who encouraged me to join the SNP and stand for elected office in the first place, and I’ve never looked back.

“She’s been a fantastic representative for the people and a powerful campaigner on a range of issues I care strongly about, from violence against women to the Waspi campaign and fighting poverty.

‘‘ We served together on the inaugural SNP friends of Palestine Committee.

‘‘We share the desire to make peoples lives better. It’s that simple. Sandra has been a warrior for social justice and an incredible asset to the Scottish Parliament.

‘‘It’s been a privilege to watch her work and campaign for her. I enter this selection contest with a promise to follow on from that tremendous work for the good of all Glasgow Kelvin constituents. They still need such a warrior on their side, fighting with every breath for independence and an end to poverty in this area.”