A Skye man who now runs a restaurant in Edinburgh has been chosen to defend the largest Holyrood constituency for the Liberal Democrats.
John Farquhar Munro announced at the last election that it would be his last term as MSP for Ross, Skye, and Inverness West, and several prominent Liberal Democrats sought to succeed him.
But the local party chose Alan MacRae, who runs the First Coast restaurant business in Edinburgh. He is from Uig in Skye.
Although he has not been involved in local politics, he is the son of former GP Dr Calum "Og" MacRae, who was a prominent Liberal on Skye for many years.
Mr MacRae beat four other candidates for the nomination, including Dr Michael Foxley.
Mr MacRae, who trained as a maths teacher on leaving Portree High School, said yesterday: "I was born and raised in this area, so it means a lot for me to have this chance to fight for its future."
With a majority reduced from 6848 in 2003 to 3486 last year, he accepts he has a fight on his hands.
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