In seven of the eight Scottish Parliament constituency seats in Glasgow the incumbent SNP MSP is standing for re-election.

In Kelvin, long serving MSP Sandra White has retired meaning a new candidate will definitely take up the mantle.

Kaukab Stewart is contesting the seat for the SNP hoping to defend a 4000 majority, left by Ms White.

She faces Pam Duncan-Glancy for Labour, Partick Harvie of the Greens, Grahame Cannell of the Conservatives and David McKenzie of the LibDems.

The SNP candidate is a long time party member and activist, a veteran of many election campaigns.

Glasgow Times:

She stood in Anniesland against Donald Dewar in the first elections to Holyrood in 1999 winning 5756 votes losing out the Scotland’s first First Minister who had a majority of almost 11,000.

She said: “Then I was the first person of colour to stand for the SNP in a parliamentary seat and here we are more than 20 years later and it’s still me that’s got the best chance of getting elected as the first woman of colour.

“On many things have come a long way but on diversity we’ve got a lot of work to do there.”

She has been a teacher for seven years, living in the Kelvin constituency and working as a hub teacher during the pandemic.

She said education and poverty are key issues facing Glasgow.

She said: “As a practicing teacher I know it’s a very complicated issue and it’s not just about education but about social policy and the bigger picture, of housing health and community work.

“I would like to make an impact on education policy as someone who has been at the chalk face.”

She said her three priorities in Kelvin are housing, noting a discrepancy between the amount of student accommodation and available social housing for families in the area.

Also helping small business in communities and improving opportunities for active travel in the area.

She said: “I support the shop local campaign. Independent business have suffered greatly in the last year.

“I’m concerned for our local businesses.”

She also supports the move to more cycle lanes and spaces for walking and cycling in the area.

Her political awakening was in the 1980s when Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister.

She said: “Before moving to Glasgow, I lived in England and my father worked in a factory and got made redundant with thousands of others.

“It turned people against each other as people started to look out for themselves. I didn’t like that.

“That woke me up to it. And the discrimination and racism that I faced.

“Why is it that if I walk down the street I get spat at and why are expectations of me not to do as well at school.”

Ms Stewart is not the only woman of colour who could be elected to Holyrood in Glasgow.

Roza Salih is top of the Glasgow Region list for the SNP.

Glasgow Times:

For her to be elected, either the SNP would need to lose one of the eight Glasgow constituency seats it holds or it achieves so many votes on the second ballot for the list that it gains another MSP. Both are possibilities.

Ms Salih was one of the celebrated Glasgow Girls in 2005, who as teenagers at school launched a campaign to end the detention of children of refugees in dawn raids by the Home Office.

They acted after many of their friends from school were taken from their homes with their parents and put in detention centres.

It has led to more than a decade of campaigning on a number and variety of issues in Glasgow.

She said: “I came to Glasgow as a refugee, aged 12, and I’ve been here for more than 20 years. Glasgow is my home. I’m known for the Glasgow Girls campaign when we fought at Drumchapel High School to end child detention by the Home Office.”

Glasgow Times:

Since then, she has been involved in many political campaigns.

She said: “I’ve been working on diversity issues and advocacy work, on black history month, and I’ve been involved with my trade union Unite, campaigning against zero hours contracts and against blacklisting of activists.

“I work for an MP so have been involved in dealing with benefits problems with Universal credit, with immigration and asylum issues.

“I think asylum seekers should allowed to work as it would mean the pay taxes and contribute to the tax income and it would remove illegal working.”

If elected Ms Salih would be the first refugee to stand in the Scottish Parliament.

She said: “It would show that Scotland is a welcoming country treats everyone equally.

“I came here aged 12 and education was provided for me.

“I went to university and I got work here.”

The Glasgow Times has featured potential Labour MSPs and will be looking at candidates from the other main parties