Carol Mochan has been chosen as the Scottish Labour candidate to represent the Carrick, Cumnock, and Doon Valley constituency for the upcoming Holyrood elections.

Ms Mochan is standing for the seat which she lost out on to current MSP Jeane Freeman in the 2016 Scottish parliament elections by 6,000 votes.

She is also standing to be Labour’s number one choice on the South Scotland regional list.

Ballots were issued to Labour members at the end of last week and they will vote to decide the order of preference for their candidates for the region.

In a Facebook post, the Carrick, Cumnock, and Doon Valley Labour Party said: “It’s great to announce that Carol Mochan has been selected as our candidate in Carrick, Cumnock, & Doon Valley for this years Scottish Parliament election .

“We look forward to working with you to take the seat back for Labour.”

In response to the confirmation of her candidacy, Ms Mochan, who is a former pupil of Girvan Primary and Auchinleck Academy, said: “I was brought up in a family that truly valued people, communities and fairness for all. This has stayed with me throughout my life and continues to motivate me now.

"I worked in the NHS for 17 years and during this time I built up a wealth of experience around the needs of people and the extent of inequality within our society. Whilst working in the NHS I was a dedicated and active trade union member. I am proud that the trade union movement shaped my early adulthood and consolidated my core values and belief in social justice.

"Today I run a small family business and consider myself a community activist. I have over recent years held many roles within my community - a member of my community council and community association, chair of our parent led toddler group, part of our school parent council and actively campaigned to ensure people and communities have a say in decision making and are able to hold politicians to account. I led the campaign for community funding to continue our pre school service and was a key member of the negotiation team when our local council wanted to withdraw funding to our community centre.

"I want to see more decisions being made at a community level. I want to see politicians being held to account on the way our schools and NHS perform and on ensuring vulnerable and elderly are cared for. I care about the future of our communities and I believe the Scottish Parliament and its MSPs have a duty to ensure the day to day lives of people are improved. To do this we need elected representatives rooted in their communities.

"I feel proud to be a Scottish Labour member, proud of our great achievments on Social Care, the NHS, lifting families out of poverty. I want the opportunity to work relentlessly to ensure Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley has the best possible representation from its local MSP - a Labour MSP.”

The Holyrood elections are scheduled to take place Thursday, May 6 later this year.