Ex-Britain First leader to stand against Sturgeon

GLASGOW: The former leader of Britain First is standing for election in the same constituency as First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar.

Jayda Fransen was confirmed as an independent candidate in Glasgow Southside when nominations closed on Wednesday.

Fransen had announced earlier this year that she planned to stand against the “SNP commie, Marxists, naughty people”. Although a member of the British Freedom Party, documents from Glasgow City Council show Fransen will be running as an independent.

She has previously been convicted of a number of religiously-aggravated crimes, including harassment in both 2016 and 2018 – the latter of which saw her sentenced to 36 weeks in prison.

Fransen has also been pictured outside the constituency office of Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf holding a sign saying “It’s okay to be white” and “All lives matter”.

Speaking outside the city chambers in Glasgow, Fransen, along with Joe Finnie – described as the Glasgow organiser of the British Freedom Party who will be standing in Glasgow Pollok against Yousaf – said: “We can’t wait for this election, we’re really excited and now we can really kick-start the campaign. There’s a lot coming guys and as Joe said: Bring it on.”

Fransen was the deputy leader and leader of Britain First before her departure from the party in 2019. She stood in the Rochester and Strood Westminster by-election in 2014, winning 56 votes.

Meanwhile ,Jim Dowson, a founding member of Britain First, is standing in the Airdrie and Shotts constituency.

In a video on the British Freedom Party channel of online video platform Purged.tv, Dowson said: “I’m really looking forward to the people of Airdrie at last having the chance to vote for one of their own, because I don’t mince my words and I’m not there to represent everybody, which all the politicians say, I’m there to represent our people, British people, everybody else can go and take a run and jump.”

Dowson will be standing against former SNP MP Neil Gray, who has vacated his Westminster seat to run for Holyrood. In a request for funding during the video, Dowson described himself, Fransen and Finnie as “machine guns” and donations as “bullets”.

He added: “Your pound notes equate into weapons of war against our enemy. Against the people who are trying to destroy our country and in turn our people themselves. We have to get behind this and we have to get wired into this.”