Wills confirmed as SNP candidate in Scottish Parliament election

TOM Wills has been confirmed as the SNP candidate for the Shetland seat in the 2021 Scottish Parliament elections.

Wills represented the SNP in last year’s Scottish Parliament by-election as he went head-to-head with eventual winner Beatrice Wishart.

He said it is a “great privilege” to stand in the election on 6 May 2021, saying “Shetland needs positive change – now more than ever”.

In a statement Wills, who works in tidal energy, said after his experience of the by-election he is “convinced” he can “make a difference in politics and give Shetlanders more effective representation in Holyrood”.

He said the election is a “choice of two futures: a Scotland shackled to an increasingly right-wing, inward-looking Brexit Britain, or a self-governing Scotland charting its own path as a progressive European nation”.

Wills also said he welcomed the current debate on more powers for Shetland.

“I’m not convinced that Shetland needs to go the ‘full Faroe’,” he said, “but we should move some distance in that direction.

“Shetland can be a leader in decarbonising energy, eradicating fuel poverty and creating good green jobs. We need more local control of fisheries and our crofters and tourism businesses must be supported to flourish”.