Former MPs hoping for a comeback at the next election

[mwai_chat context=”Let’s have a discussion about this article:nn Getty ImagesBy Becky MortonPolitical reporterWhen Douglas Alexander lost his seat in the House of Commons to 20-year-old Mhairi Black in 2015 it was one of the biggest shocks of the night. The former minister in the Blair and Brown governments had represented Paisley and Renfrewshire South since Labour swept to power in 1997 and was defending a majority of more than 16,000. Now nearly a decade later the SNP MP is standing down and Mr Alexander is hoping to return to Westminster – this time for East Lothian, a key Labour target in Scotland. He’ll be fighting the SNP’s Iain Whyte to try to take the seat held by Alba’s Kenny MacAskill, who defected from the SNP in 2021. With a general election expected later this year – and January 2025 the latest one can legally be held – parties are already selecting their candidates. Some 100 MPs have confirmed they will stand down at the next election, and new constituencies have also been created by boundary changes, providing opportunities for prospective candidates old and new. Mr Alexander is one of at least 19 former MPs seeking a comeback.What’s it like to lose your seat as an MP?When is the next general election?He says he hadn’t anticipated stepping back into public life, after pursuing a career in academia, but in the autumn of 2022 he was approached by local party members to ask if he would consider standing. “I don’t miss the game of politics. And I certainly haven’t missed the brutality of social media,” he says.”But I decided that if I could play a small part in bringing Labour back in Scotland and contributing to Labour returning to government, then that was a worthwhile use of the coming years.”Only a handful of Labour’s current shadow cabinet have previously served as government ministers so Mr Alexander could provide some valuable experience to Sir Keir Starmer’s top team if Labour win.However, he insists his “overriding focus” is on getting elected in East Lothian, rather than any ambitions for a government job. Getty ImagesPerhaps unsurprisingly given that Labour are riding high in the polls, fewer former Conservative MPs are standing again at the next election so far.However, the BBC is aware of two in Scotland, including Luke Graham, who represented Ochil and South Perthshire from 2017 to 2019. With national polls suggesting the Tories are on course for defeat, more than 60 of the party’s current MPs have already announced they are standing down. But Mr Graham says in Scotland, where the SNP has been in power for nearly 17 years, it’s a different picture. He says it was “devastating” to lose his seat to the SNP in 2019, after just two-and-a-half years in the job. “I’d just figured out how to do it and then they had a snap election,” he says. “So it was very frustrating.”He’s standing in the new constituency of Perth and Kinross-shire, which replaces his old seat, where he’ll face the SNP’s longest-serving MP, Pete Wishart. Despite continuing to campaign locally since he was voted out, Mr Graham says the decision to stand again was still a difficult one. “I’ve turned down two jobs in the last few months because I’m going for this election and I don’t know what’s going to happen,” he says. “So it’s a big risk.” Tom ArthurWith Labour riding high in the opinion polls, the bulk of the ex-MPs standing again are from t …nnDiscussion:nn” ai_name=”RocketNews AI: ” start_sentence=”Can I tell you more about this article?” text_input_placeholder=”Type ‘Yes'”]