Liberal Democrat MSP Willie Rennie hopes another five years representing North East Fife at Holyrood will allow him to see Newburgh re-connected to the rail network.
The politician will ask voters to send him back to the Scottish Parliament again next May after 10 years in the job.
And with polls predicting a split parliament and the likely election of Reform UK MSPs, Mr Rennie, who is originally from Kelty, says his party could be a stabilising force.
He told The Courier: “Using the experience I have gleaned over the last 15 years in the Scottish Parliament I hope I can try to bring opposing sides together and try to make some progress on really important issues rather than letting the parliament descend into paralysis.
Stabilising force
“We’ve done it with the Scottish Government budget this year where we’ve reached out across the constitutional divide and come up with a package that delivered for a lot of areas including social care, offshore wind and Newburgh rail station potentially.
“We think we can do more of that.”
First elected to represent Dunfermline and West Fife at Westminster in 2006, Mr Rennie made the switch to Holyrood in 2011 as a regional MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife. He went on to replace his party colleague Roderick Campbell in North East Fife in 2016.
As well as reconnecting Newburgh to the rail network he also wants to push for the rebuilding of the specialist school in Cupar – which educates children with additional needs.
He said: “The Kilmaron School is just huts and is totally inadequate. I’d like to see that rebuilt into a new facility.
“If we can get the train station opened up and the Kilmaron School built those would be really important steps.
“But also just standing up for North East Fife when centrally they try to withdraw services. So there’s the minor injuries unit just now, the Elmwood campus and the sorting office at Anstruther.
‘Stop cuts in North East Fife’
“Making sure we defend all of those services when things are tight, because people often think north east Fife is a place that you can cut services from. It’s important you’ve got a strong voice to stand up against that.”
Current polls suggest First Minister John Swinney’s SNP will be the largest party in parliament after the next election but will fall short of a governing majority. It would mean they will require support from smaller opposition groups to pass key legislation.
Mr Rennie says his party is more likely to work with whoever forms the next government on an issue-by-issue basis as opposed to a formal coalition.
Mr Rennie won the North East Fife seat in 2021 with 55% of the vote and a majority of over 7,000. His nearest rival, the SNP, secured 36.6% of votes cast.
And while it’s likely to be a two-horse race between the nationalists and the Liberal Democrats against next year, North East Fife is currently the only constituency in the country without an SNP candidate.
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