EDINBURGH Central, where I am standing as the SNP candidate, is the most marginal Tory-held constituency in Scotland. At the 2016 Scottish Parliament election, nobody looked more surprised at the Conservative gain from the SNP than their candidate Ruth Davidson.

In this knife-edge seat where the Tories won by only 610 votes, the relative success of the Greens in the constituency campaign in winning more than 4000 votes unwittingly helped the Conservative to their victory.

On Thursday, Edinburgh Central could well be one of the key contests that will decide the Scottish Parliament election. Either the Tories will hold the seat that Davidson has vacated for the House of Lords or the SNP will regain the constituency. In this two-horse race, either progressive voters will vote for the pro-European SNP or the pro-Brexit Tories will come through the middle again, against the wishes of the majority in this, the most Remain voting area in the country.

Edinburgh Central is a diverse constituency with voters across its south tending to support the SNP while in the north leaned to the Tories in 2016. From Gorgie, Dalry, Fountainbridge, Tollcross, Old Town, Southside and Dumbiedykes it is the SNP that beats Boris Johnson’s party, while the Tories fancy their chances in Murrayfield, Ravelston, Orchard Brae, Craigleith, the West End and the New Town. Areas such as Comely Bank, Stockbridge and around Broughton Street have been more closely contested, although the SNP won well here in the 2019 UK General Election.

Edinburgh Central is a cosmopolitan constituency, with more than 10% of the electorate being European Union and international residents able to vote in the Holyrood election. More than 7200 people from the EU or newly enfranchised from the rest of the world could play a large part in determining whether their MSP backs Scotland rejoining the EU and becoming an equal member of the international community.

EU citizens make up the largest part of the international cohort, but newly enfranchised nationalities include residents from the United States, Norway, Brazil and many other countries. In Edinburgh there are tens of thousands of people from other countries, with the largest numbers from Poland, India, Ireland, China, the USA, Germany, Pakistan, Australia, France and Spain.

As the SNP candidate for Edinburgh Central I have the benefit of having grown up in the constituency and also being the product of the capital’s international community. My mother came to this country as a refugee after the Second World War and I grew up in Edinburgh with English as a second language. I can’t wait to for Edinburgh to enhance its European and international identity by becoming the capital of a sovereign Scotland which is a full member of the European Union and global community.

In the next parliamentary term we will hopefully decide that it is people who live in Scotland that should determine Scotland’s future, not Boris Johnson and Westminster politicians. If we re-elect an SNP government and Nicola Sturgeon as First Minister we will have a referendum about Scotland’s future when we have emerged from coronavirus. To do that we need to win key seats like Edinburgh Central.

This is the last weekend of the Scottish Parliament election campaign and in Edinburgh Central we are planning a major programme of activities with campaign teams out on Super Saturday in Gorgie, Southside/Newington and Stockbridge and Super Sunday in Dalry, Tollcross and Comely Bank.

Every volunteer will be helping the SNP campaign to win the most marginal Tory seat in the country. We will be boosting turnout, encouraging democratic participation and helping undecided progressive voters understand that a constituency vote for the Green, Labour, Liberal Democrats or independent candidates actually helps the Tories.

Nicola Sturgeon was in Edinburgh Central yesterday supporting my campaign. The positive reaction to her from people in the streets was overwhelming, with dozens wanting selfies and the chance to wish her and the SNP success, including a lovely family group of visitors from Liverpool and Leeds.

In recent weeks ,we have also been joined by more than two dozen international journalists who are covering the election in Scotland generally and the race in Edinburgh Central specifically. From Europe alone there has been media from France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Denmark and Finland. More are arriving before polling day.

Let’s do everything we can to secure an SNP victory in the Scottish Parliament election by winning seats like Edinburgh Central to ensure we will re-elect an SNP government and Nicola Sturgeon as First Minister and hold an independence referendum.