Former Rural Affairs adviser selected for European elections
A former Special Adviser to First Minister Alex Salmond has been selected as an SNP candidate for next year's European elections at the Party's Conference in Inverness.
Stephen Gethins who is from Perthshire has been a member of the SNP for over 20 years and over the past four years has worked as Special Adviser for Rural Affairs working at the Scottish Government.
Before working at the Scottish Government Stephen was an Adviser at the EU Committee of the Regions as well as working with Scottish organisations at Scotland Europa helping them influence the EU decision making process and win funding for Scottish projects.
Speaking after his selection, Gethins said: "The European Parliament has a major impact on Scotland not least our important and fast growing food and drink industry. It will be crucially important to have a strong Scottish voice in the European Parliament especially as we negotiate a new Common Agricultural Policy.
"So many important decisions are made in Brussels that affect our rural communities and yet we often have to depend on an out of touch and increasingly isolated UK Government to make Scotland’s case.
"It is time to cut out the middle man in London and give our Ministers the normal powers of Independence and a seat at the top table in Europe so that we can make the case for our farmers, and get them a fair deal out of the European Union."
Richard Lochhead said: "Next Year’s European elections will be critically important to Scotland’s rural communities. The European Parliament has a big impact on issues that affect our rural communities not least Scotland’s farmers. It will be vital to send a strong SNP Group of MEPs to the European Parliament to make Scotland’s case in Brussels.
"We already have a great team in the European Parliament with Ian Hudghton and Alyn Smith and we have many additional candidates standing including Stephen Gethins who has a strong track record of working on Rural and European Affairs in the Scottish Government as well as in the European Union. I look forward to campaigning with him and other SNP candidates on the run up to the European elections and then the Independence Referendum on 18 September 2014."
