THE SNP MSP who Stephen Flynn has announced a bid to replace has issued a statement.
Audrey Nicoll, who represents Aberdeen South and North Kincardine at Holyrood, spoke out on Tuesday morning after Flynn said he would aim to stand in her seat in the 2026 elections.
Writing in the Press and Journal, Flynn said he did not want to “sit out [the] battles that are coming for Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire and the wider nation”.
Responding to Flynn’s bid to replace her, Nicoll made clear her intention to again stand in her Aberdeen South and North Kincardine constituency.
She said: “I was deeply honoured in 2021 to be nominated by the SNP as the candidate for Aberdeen South and North Kincardine. That election delivered the highest number of women returned to Holyrood in the party's history.
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“As a constituency MSP, my focus will remain to work tirelessly for constituents regardless of any internal party selection processes.
"I look forward to any contest, where of course it will be for branch members to select those they wish to represent them in Holyrood in the 2026 Scottish Parliament elections.”
Flynn said that it did not fill him "with any great delight" to go up against Nicoll for selection to the constituency.
"Different people are chosen to represent the team at different moments in time and it will be for SNP members to determine who is ultimately their candidate in Aberdeen South and Kincardine," he said.
Flynn currently represents Aberdeen South at Westminster. He saw the group he leads reduced to just nine MPs in the July General Election after a Scottish Labour revival north of the Border.
The 2026 Holyrood election is set to be a tight race between the two parties, according to the polls.
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