South Scotland’s newly elected team of Labour MSPs Colin Smyth, Carol Mochan and Martin Whitfield have thanked voters across the region and pledged to make their priority delivering a recovery plan to help the region rebuild after the pandemic.

The election of the Labour MSPs last week maintains the party’s representation of three MSPs within South Scotland.

Colin Smyth said: “It has been the honour of my life to represent South Scotland in the Scottish Parliament as a Scottish Labour Party MSP and to have been ‘first’ over the line in being re-elected.

“I’m really looking forward to working with our new South Scotland Labour team Carol Mochan and Martin Whitfield.

“This has been an election like no other, fought in such difficult circumstances. So I want to say a huge thank you to every Labour activist who pounded the streets and the more than 57,000 people across South Scotland who put their trust in Scottish Labour.

“They made clear they want our next Parliament to focus on delivering the Recovery plan our region needs, creating jobs so our young people don’t need to leave the region, restarting our NHS and ensuring no child is left behind because of missed schooling. That will be Labour’s priority for the region our new team of MSPs are proud to represent. It’s time to get back to work for South Scotland.”

Carol Mochan said: “It’s an honour to be representing Labour across South Scotland, an honour I never believed would come to me, but I am excited about facing the challenge and working with my colleagues to build the alternative across our region.”

Martin Whitfield said: “It is a great privilege to represent such a vibrant area of Scotland. The South of Scotland has a strong Labour team who will work for the recovery of the region as we come out of the pandemic, support our communities and young people and help deliver a better greener future.”