Glenrothes by-election

I returned to Markinch this afternoon to help out doing whatever was asked of me. I spent a lot of time in the Glenrothes constituency during the Holyrood campaign last year working alongside Tricia Marwick MSP and her team. I have to say I had a fantastic experience in Tricia's campaign and enjoyed every minute of it. The sheer hard work that was put into that campaign to get Tricia elected as the constituency MSP for Central Fife and to get as many Councillors elected as we did to enable the SNP to take control of Fife Council was astounding and greatly impressed me. I learnt a great deal and was certainly made to feel extremely welcome.

During this time I also had the opportunity to campaign alongside our candidate (who was selected last night), Cllr Peter Grant who has worked diligently across his ward and as the leader of Fife Council.

It was great to be back campaigning in Markinch as I spent most of the afternoon with David from Edinburgh leafleting. Out on the streets this afternoon there was a good feeling with people coming over to say hello and asking about the campaign. The Central Fife team have certainly worked extremely hard since last year's election delivering for the people of Central Fife and continuing to build our credibility in the constituency.

With the start of the autumn session in the EP looming I have to go back to Brussels on Monday. Our in-tray is full right now with a wealth of issues that we will be working on over the coming weeks and months - pesticides, CAP health check, animal by-products, food security, renewable energy targets and energy security, biofuels and climate change, etc. This is going to be an extremely hectic time as we approach the European elections and the end of the EP's current mandate. However, that won't stop me from coming back to Markinch and I'll certainly be there just as much as I can.