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The race for Holyrood

Minority ethnic candidates standing for Christian parties at the Holyrood elections give their views on why the Scottish Parliament has remained all-white, and the chances of that changing on May 3.

Rev George Hargreaves, leader of the Scottish Christian Party, top of the list in Glasgow and standing in Springburn:

"The Scottish Parliament is very new so I don't see the lack of minority MSPs as a fault of the parliament, or the Scottish system. The Conservatives have only just at the last election got their first black MP at Westminster.

"As far as I'm concerned - unless it's really undercover - I have never felt racism in Scotland. I lead a party full of white Scotsmen and I have been embraced as a Christian brother - there are more jokes about me being English than black.

"However, should we prevail, which I think we should, Scotland will have the first black party political leader in the UK. That would be one up for Holyrood."

Abdul Dean, first on the Glasgow list for the Christian People's Alliance:

"The fact we have no Muslim or ethnic minority MSP beggars belief. After 7/7 I had a women who walked in the shop and said you should all be interned. This isn't just neds that are thinking like this, this is the effect on normal, educated people.

"We need to get this solved. A lot of people in the community feel we are the enemy now. We need Muslims in the parliament to speak up on these issues."

Full story at The Herald.