Fitzpatrick ‘honoured’ as he holds on to seat

J theoe Fitzpatrick said he was “hugely honoured” after being re-elected as MSP for Dundee City West.

Mr Fitzpatrick has represented the constituency since first winning the seat in 2007.

This time around he was elected with 19,818 votes – a 4% increase from 2016 – and a 13,000-seat majority.

Mr Fitzpatrick, who was public health minister until 2020 before resigning after Scotland recorded record drug deaths, said it was “a huge privilege” to have been re-elected.

He told The Courier: “I’m hugely honoured that the people not only voted for me in huge numbers, in spite of what was a bit of a rubbish day – bits of sunshine, bits of rain – but people came out and voted.

“I’m so grateful to them for doing so and I will continue to work hard on their behalf both here in Dundee and the Scottish Parliament.”

Mr Fitzpatrick said his number one priority was the country’s recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.

He added: “It is so important that is what we focus on initially.

“But as we come out of the pandemic, we need to decide what type of recovery we’re going to have.

“And it’s clear that people want to make sure that that recovery is decided by the people of Scotland.

“We’ll have to see what the results are elsewhere in Scotland, but if it’s replicated, then it is a clear mandate for the SNP in terms of taking forward a second referendum.”

He added: “There was so much at stake in this election.

“The last year has been awful so we have to recover from that and it’s about who determines that recovery.

“Is it the people of Scotland or is it Boris Johnson?

“And certainly in Dundee the people have spoken and the message is clear – it should be for the people of Scotland to determine our future.”

Mr Fitzpatrick paid tribute to his election team, saying: “Part of that support I would put down to my constituency team who have worked so hard.

“But we always have an open door to help people and I think that’s starting to come through in the polls.”

The turnout for Dundee City West was 56.9% – a record high for the constituency – and up 5.1% from the 2016 election.

The provisional turnout was 32,258.

THRILLED: Joe Fitzpatrick, above, is delighted as he holds on to his Dundee City West seat for the SNP last night. John Swinney, below, gives a speech after bolstering his majority in Perthshire North. Pictures by Mhairi Edwards and Steve Macdougall.

Joe Fitzpatrick elbow bumps a rival candidate at the count at DISC in Dundee.