Paisley has nothing to worry about on June 8

Here was me arranging my diary for after the election this year, with the thought that there would not be another for some time — then Theresa May changed all that.

A General Election has been called for June 8, which is my birthday.

As Paisley’s MSP, I have seen the difference having two MPs covering parts of our town.

We now have Mhairi Black in Paisley and Renfrewshire South and Gavin Newlands in Paisley and Renfrewshire North and both have proven to be fantastic parliamentarians and dedicated constituency MPs.

As someone who has been involved in politics in Paisley for 30 years, I can tell you how much better this is for our town.

No longer do we have MPs who disappear to Westminster and are more interested in their own political career than their constituents.

Now we have two very hard-working MPs and people I can work with as our town’s MSP.

But the Westminster careerists of old are still kicking about as some Tory MSPs have decided to stand for Westminster.

So, they have had a job in our nation’s parliament for one year and now they appear to want to abandon those who elected them and run away to London.

They might find that the public will have something to say about this.

But at least we do not need to worry when we have the likes of Gavin and Mhairi.