Highland councillor and businessman Angus MacDonald set to contest Ross, Skye and Lochaber for LibDems at next general election
A Highland councillor has announced that he is going to go up against sitting MP Ian Blackford in the next general election.
Angus MacDonald has been selected to stand as a Liberal Democrat in opposition to the current SNP MP for Ross, Skye and Lochaber.
Mr Blackford was also, until recently, leader of the party at Westminster.
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Mr MacDonald's decision has come about, he says, as a result of a deep sense of frustration at the lack of infrastructure in the Highlands, and the current centralised government system at play.
Speaking to the Ross-shire Journal, Mr MacDonald said: "We get absolutely nothing up here, compared to the central belt where they have had trams, roads and countless infrastructure projects.
"Whereas up here all we have seen is the CalMac Ferries, which have not gone according to plan."
The serial entrepreneur and philanthropist has in the past run and sold a variety of businesses such as Edinburgh Financial Publishing, Financial News and Helius Energy. However, he is now in the business of giving back having built Highland Cinema in Fort William in order to serve the local community. He is also the chairman of his son's business, The Highland Soap Company.
"We need to see change here", he continued.
"We were also promised a new hospital here in Fort William 20 years ago, and that's not happened.
"I'm infuriated by the current SNP government and the lack of attention to the Highlands."
Mr Blackford won the seat from Charles Kennedy, a former Liberal Democrat leader, who held the seat from 1983 to 2015. Mr Kennedy died in 2015.
