Party’s first minority ethnic councillor helps to tip balance of power

Nadia El-Nakla, who is married to SNP Health Secretary Humza Yousaf, secured the majority win for her party in Dundee’s West End.

The high-profile candidate has been a longtime party staffer working for Scottish Government minister Shona Robison.

It was revealed she would be running in this year’s local election back in March.

The SNP faced a potential battle to secure more seats in the West End ward but Ms El-Nakla won the seat as well as aiding in the party’s majority win.

Following the announcement, Ms ElNakla told The Courier she was “over the moon” at the result.

She said: “It’s such a privilege and I can’t wait to do a good job for everyone who lives in the West End.

“I was nervous this morning but win or lose I knew I’d run a really good campaign with my team and I just thought whatever will be will be and here we are – we won.

“An SNP majority is brilliant and means we can push forward all the positive changes we want to do in the manifesto and I’m just really, really excited to see what the next five years will bring.”

The SNP councillor is the first minority ethnic SNP candidate to be elected in Dundee and is hoping to inspire other women to get involved in politics through her work. She said: “For me, losing wouldn’t have been so personal other than the fact that women wouldn’t be represented for another five years.

“I really want to take this time in the next five years as elected to invest in women and get them into politics because in Broughty Ferry ward I don’t think we’ve ever seen a female councillor in I don’t know how long so that needs to change.

“I’m so glad that women have a voice and I hope I can do a really good job for them.”

Council leader John Alexander said the diversity of the SNP this year can reflect the city they will serve.

He said: “I think this is going to be one of the most diverse councils we’ve ever had – that can only be a good thing.

“We want a council that reflects the make-up of the city. When I came into the council in 2012 I was the youngest by a large margin – I’m still the youngest but by a lesser margin now and I think that’s really important.

“So we’ve got the young people, we’ve got the older generation represented, we’ve got our first BAME (Black, Asian and minority ethnic) candidate being elected from the SNP here in Dundee so all of that is fantastic and I think it will complement what we need to do over the city and contribute very positively.”