AN INVERCLYDE businessman hopes it will be third time lucky as he bids for the right to contest an election for the SNP.

Ian McDougall, 42, lost out to Ronnie Cowan MP in the race to be the party’s Inverclyde candidate in this year’s general election.

And Stuart McMillan MSP beat him to be the Greenock & Inverclyde contender for next year’s Scottish Parliament constituency poll.

Now Mr McDougall, pictured, is putting himself forward for the SNP’s West of Scotland regional list at the 2016 Holyrood election.

And he has the backing of former First Minister Alex Salmond MP, as well as the party’s top two representatives on Inverclyde Council.

A chartered accountant, Mr McDougall grew up in Larkfield and now lives in Kilmacolm.

He owns a corporate finance practice in Glasgow, is a non-executive finance director with a software company and a founder director of Business for Scotland.

Party members are currently voting for who they want to see on the list, and the poll closes early next week.

Mr McDougall said: “I believe the SNP have the opportunity to make history in Inverclyde by being represented by three local SNP politicians who will all fight against austerity and the renewal of Trident, and who will all strive to reverse the fortunes of an area that has sadly been poorly served by our politicians for as long as I have lived here.

“I congratulated current SNP list MSP Stuart McMillian on winning the right to contest the Holyrood Greenock and Inverclyde constituency seat and, without being disrespectful to the other candidates, we are confident he can go on and win.

“Therefore the only way we can achieve the goal of having three SNP politicians is for the SNP members in Inverclyde to give me their regional list vote. That will allow me to fight the regional campaign and allow Stuart to focus on the local campaign.” Mr McDougall has been praised by ex-FM Mr Salmond for ‘going the extra mile’ in contributing to the independence referendum last year. The former SNP leader said: “Ian’s professional manner and understanding of the economy and business made him a convincing speaker for Business for Scotland, and I believe that those very attributes, as well as an attachment to his working class roots and the desire to improve the lives of those less fortunate, will make him an excellent addition to the SNP group at Holyrood.” Both Inverclyde SNP council group leader Chris McEleny and his deputy, Councillor Jim MacLeod, say they will vote for Mr McDougall to be number one on the SNP list.

Cllr McEleny said: “I believe that, with Ian McDougall elected as an MSP for the region, he will be in the best position to work with Ronnie Cowan MP, Stuart McMillan MSP and the SNP council group as we aim to support investment, bring quality jobs to the area and make Inverclyde better.” Councillor MacLeod added: “Now that we have selected Stuart McMillan as our constituency candidate, I believe it is very important that we also get another local MSP elected who knows our district well and will help fight our corner as a regional parliamentarian.”