Glasgow’s SNP group has announced its candidates for three council by-elections next month.

By-elections will be held in the Maryhill, Drumchapel/Anniesland and North East wards on Thursday, November 21 following the resignation of three Labour councillors.

(Image: Lorna Finn) Lorna Finn will stand for the SNP in Maryhill, Kilian Riley is the party’s candidate in North East ward and Adekemi Giwa is the representative in Drumchapel/Anniesland.

Ms Giwa has called on the UK Government to deliver a commitment to invest in the regeneration of Drumchapel town centre. The area has been promised £15m of Levelling Up funding, but there has been speculation that the fund could be cut.

The SNP candidate said the money would “transform Drumchapel town centre and deliver new affordable housing in the area”. “I will campaign tirelessly for that money to come to our ward, and to deliver for people across Drumchapel/Anniesland,” she added.

Ms Giwa launched ‘The Play Centre’ social enterprise in Drumchapel, which delivers mentoring, workshops and skills development as well as youth clubs, after school clubs and family hangouts.

She said: “People across Drumchapel/Anniesland have been suffering over the last 14 years, I’ve seen that first hand with the service users at my own organisation.

“People who use my organisation face many barriers, one of the biggest is socio-economic challenges. These barriers will not be lifted if Labour continues to deliver the same austerity as the Tories.”

(Image: Kilian Riley) Labour’s Patricia Ferguson (Drumchapel/Anniesland) and Maureen Burke (North East) were elected to represent Glasgow West and Glasgow North East at Westminster in July and resigned from the council last month.

Keiran O’Neill, who represented Maryhill, then announced his intention to quit with “immediate effect” later in September, due to “changes in my personal and professional life”.

Mr Riley said: “The former Labour councillor for North East ward left to become the new MP – and immediately voted at Westminster to cut the winter fuel payment for pensioners and to keep the Tory two-child cap which has plunged children into poverty. 

“With Labour already letting Glasgow down, only the SNP will hold them to account and stand up for our communities.”

(Image: Giwa) Ms Finn, a former SNP national secretary, said: “These by-elections are our first chance to say No to Labour’s cuts, and as a local councillor for Maryhill I will campaign against austerity and fight for more investment for our communities.

“I want to work to build on the SNP’s record of delivery in the north of Glasgow – from multi-million pound investment in new affordable housing in Maryhill, to new infrastructure like the recently opened North Kelvinside Primary School and the Stockingfield Bridge, which is connecting communities in the north of the city for the first time.”

Residents eligible to vote in the elections can register at: www.glasgow.gov.uk/registertovote.