A former SNP MP will stand for election as an Alba Party candidate in Ayrshire at the next general election.

Corri Wilson, who was the SNP MP for Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock between 2015 and 2017, will stand for Alba in the same seat at the next Westminster election.

Ms Wilson left the SNP and joined Alba in 2021, stating that she believed her former party had allowed independence to be dropped as a priority.

She is currently depute general secretary of Alba Party and was also previously an SNP councillor in Ayr.

She says that her priority at the general election is to ensure that voters in Ayrshire are given the opportunity to vote for a strategy that can deliver independence.

Ms Wilson said: “The SNP strategy for the general election is incoherent and recently the Greens have said that independence is no longer a red line for them and that they would be happy to prop up a unionist government at Holyrood.

“Alba Party now are Scotland’s independence party. That is why we are planning a wide scale intervention across Scotland at the general election to make sure the people of Scotland have the choice of voting for independence.

“As a member of Parliament, I will be trusted to protect the rights of women and girls. My priorities are ending the absurdity of fuel-poor Scots in energy-rich Scotland and eradicating poverty.

"With the powers of independence, Scotland can move away from the failed system of Westminster and towards a fairer and more equal country.”

Ms Wilson will be joined on the ballot paper by sitting SNP MP Allan Dorans, South Ayrshire Council leader Martin Dowey for the Conservatives, Doon Valley councillor Elaine Stewart for Labour, and the Reform Party's Andrew Russell.

The election must be called before the end of this year; it's widely expected that it will take place in the second half of 2024, though the latest possible date is January 28, 2025.