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Daily Record
Daily Record
National
Jack Thomson

SNP candidate vows to 'knock his pan in' for constituents if elected to Renfrewshire Council

An SNP candidate has vowed to "knock his pan in" for constituents if he is elected in tomorrow's council election.

Bruce MacFarlane said it would be an "absolute honour" to represent Paisley Southeast - the ward in which he is standing - should he be successful.

The 22-year-old, a law graduate and office manager for Natalie Don MSP, wants to tackle social inequality head on, starting with helping those impacted by the cost of living crisis in Renfrewshire.

He said: "It's about having somebody in Paisley Southeast that will stand up for their constituency and knock their pan in for it.

"It is one of those things, loads of people can get in on their party ticket and sit back for the five years, and it is a cushty number because there's nobody following up on you.

"But if you do the job right, you should be putting the hours in.

"I think that's what Paisley Southeast deserves and I think that's what constituents expect from their councillors - to just do their best, be accessible, be approachable and that's what I hope to deliver, if I'm successful."

MacFarlane, who was born in and grew up in Paisley, spoke of the difficulty in seeing individuals and families in the town struggle with the cost of living crisis.

But he hopes to be elected and help Renfrewshire Council support those who need help.

MacFarlane added: "It is soul destroying to see the impact rising energy costs are having on families struggling to get by.

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"There's only so much that local authorities can do to mitigate the worst impacts of that, but certainly if we return to the administration we will make sure we continue things such as school clothing grants, free school meals, and keep making sure that we send Boris a message that Tory austerity doesn't fit for people in Paisley.

"That's the driving factor. We need to try and tackle the cost of living crisis as we can within the powers that local authorities have."

MacFarlane, aiming to become one of the youngest councillors in Renfrewshire, doesn't expect his age to be a barrier in local politics.

In fact, he sees it as an opportunity to pave the way for other young people to follow suit and represent their communities.

He said: "I'm enthusiastic, I want to do this, but in terms of people taking me seriously, Paisley has a long line of sending young elected representatives.

"Mhairi Black was 20 when she was elected to Westminster. Age is not a barrier and if people don't take me seriously because of my age, that says more about them than it does about me.

"There should be more people in my age group doing this. It's a shame that there's so little of us.

"In terms of people in the chamber, I think we are starting to see that change.

"I think we are starting to see more young people come through - not just in the SNP, other parties as well - and that's a great thing, because the council should represent Renfrewshire.

"Our elected members should represent society and age is another factor in that."

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