THE SNP’s candidates to stand for Holyrood constituencies at next year’s election will today be revealed, with all eyes on who will win the big race in Edinburgh Central.

Angus Robertson and Marco Biagi are up against one another in the key contest, with the winner fighting to challenge the Tories in the target seat. Former deputy SNP leader Robertson entered the race early with Biagi, who used to represent the area, throwing his hat into the ring after Joanna Cherry, the Edinburgh South West MP, pulled out.

Cherry withdrew from the contest after the party’s national executive committee controversially changed its “dual mandate” rule requiring an MP to stand down if they were standing for Holyrood.

There will also be keen interest in whether three Scottish ministers and several sitting SNP MSPs are successfully challenged. Social Security Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville, Rural Economy Secretary Fergus Ewing and Community Safety Minister Ash Denham have all been challenged by local activists.

The three ministers are among a total of ten SNP MSPs facing contests from other SNP hopefuls.

They are backbenchers Colin Beattie, James Dornan, Kenny Gibson, Christine Grahame, David Torrance, Stuart McMillan and John Mason also face challenges.

Chris McEleny, the Inverclyde councillor and Plan B promoter on independence, is challenging McMillan in Inverclyde.

It is understood the winner in Cunninghame North will not be announced today after the contest was suspended last month.

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Somerville, a close ally of Nicola Sturgeon, is being challenged for the SNP candidacy in her Dunfermline and West Fife constituency.

She told The National in September: “This is democracy in action, and I think it’s reassuring that the party has so many passionate members across the country who want to get more involved.

“However, I am very confident that I remain the best choice to continue representing this area given my work with thousands of individual constituents and local organisations and businesses over the past session.”

Beattie, who represents Midlothian North and Musselburgh and is the SNP’s treasurer, said challenge was “part of the democratic process”.

Activist Irshad Ahmed told us he was challenging Denham in Edinburgh Eastern as she wasn’t “pushing for independence”.

He said: “Ash may be popular in the area, but after speaking to local members, they want to push for independence, which doesn’t seem to be on Ash’s agenda.”

Catalan-born Valentina Servera Clavell is challenging John Mason in Glasgow Shettleston.

The challenges are part of a record turnover for Holyrood in 2021, with 28 MSPs leaving and 37 of the SNP’s 73 seats seeing internal battles. There is also close interest in party circles on whether several BAME women and other minority candidates will win the party’s nomination.

Councillor and senior activist Michelle Campbell is hoping to get selected for former finance secretary Derek’s Mackay’s seat of Renfrewshire North and West, while Scots Kenyan Sameeha Rehman is hoping to get selected in Stirling.

The Stirling race also sees Mridul Wadhwa also putting herself forward. If selected and elected to Holyrood, she could become Scotland’s first transgender MSP.

Interest will also be intense on whether Richard Walker, the former and founding editor of The National and the Sunday National, and who brought the Sunday Herald out for Yes ahead of the 2014 referendum, will triumph in Ayr.

Voting closes at midday with the result expected a few hours later.

The SNP will then decide on list seat candidates.