I’m Davy Russell, and I’m proud to be standing as Scottish Labour’s candidate in the upcoming by-election for Hamilton, Stonehouse and Larkhall.

Full statement

I’ve lived here my whole life. I’m a dad – and a granddad – and like many of you, I care deeply about the future of our community.

I’m not a politician. I’ve never stood for election before. But I’m standing in this by-election because this is where I was born, where I live, and where I’ve raised my family. For me, it’s the best place in the world. I want to be a champion in parliament for this place and the people I’ve grown up with and lived alongside my entire life.

I was born in Quarter, and went to school in Hamilton. I started my career as a roads trainee in 1980 and ended up as a director at a local council. I’ve worked my entire life to improve the services that we all rely on. Today, I support people with disabilities, help run a local hospice, and I’m honoured to represent His Majesty as Deputy Lord Lieutenant in Lanarkshire.

Like you, I’ve had enough of the way things are going with the SNP. I’m standing for one reason: to get things done for our community. We need to fix our NHS – too many people have had to wait too long for the care they deserve. We need to tackle the SNP’s housing crisis – so families here aren’t stuck in damp flats or waiting years for a home they can barely afford. And we need to breathe life back into our town centres – investment in the places we all use and used to be proud of. After 18 years, the SNP are out of ideas and out of touch. If they had a plan to fix things here we’d have seen it by now. This by-election is a chance for all of us to send the SNP a message: enough is enough.

I’ll always fight for our communities and put Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse first.

I’m ready to work for you – and fight for you – every single day.