INVERCLYDE’S SNP general election candidate has moved quickly to draw the battle lines just a day after being selected.

As the Tele revealed yesterday, Greenock man Ronnie Cowan will represent the party in May in what is likely to be a close fight with Labour’s current incumbent MP Iain McKenzie.

Mr Cowan led the Yes campaign in Inverclyde during the Scottish independence referendum in which the district was split right down the middle, with the No vote just edging it by the thinnest of margins.

The IT worker, who has been a member of the SNP since the age of 16, says he was elated to receive the backing of the 1,200-strong local membership — and was quick to make his case to voters ahead of May’s poll.

Mr Cowan told the Tele: “If you want change, if you feel that you have been let down by the metronome of Labour and Conservative governments at Westminster, then 7 May is your chance to change that.

“Fifty-nine MPs will never form a government but they are in a position to influence and negotiate.

“Given other parties’ previous failure to do this for the benefit of Scotland and Inverclyde, it is my firm belief that only by returning a larger than ever number of SNP MPs can we progress our desire for social reform, the promised development of powers to Holyrood and the removal of weapons of mass destruction from our doorstep.

“The task ahead of us is clear: we can’t empower the citizens of Scotland from Westminster and so we must bring power to Holyrood; we must be able to show the true face of Scotland on a world stage and not from behind the coat tails of the UK; we must ensure that the people who govern Scotland are accountable to the citizens of Scotland and are responsible for creating a society that reflects our aims.

“Continual irreversible improvement is the path we must pursue for the good of all Scots in all communities across our land.” After orchestrating the Yes campaign and garnering huge support in September’s poll, Mr Cowan says politics in Inverclyde has been turned upside down.

He said: “Politics in Inverclyde has changed forever.

“During the referendum campaign we built a local team of activists and volunteers, the likes of which Inverclyde has never seen.

“The groundswell in support and the involvement of the local community brought a vibrancy and strength to that campaign that I intend to replicate in the general election campaign of 2015.

“The MP for Inverclyde should first and foremost be a conduit for the hopes and needs of the people of Inverclyde.

“But within a large group of SNP MPs our local voice will be greatly amplified.

“The electorate of Inverclyde need to step up and declare their support for that voice. 27,243 people in Inverclyde voted last September for full independence.

“If these same people make the same commitment to me then we shall win Inverclyde and return an SNP MP for the first time.

“Turn up on 7 May, vote SNP and be that change.” Inverclyde Council SNP group leader Councillor Chris McEleny was one of the four prospective SNP candidates, along with local businessman Ian McDougall and council education worker Elizabeth Robertson.

Mr McEleny said: “Well done to all the candidates who put Inverclyde first throughout the process.

“My job of being the leader of the SNP locally doesn’t change and I will continue to stand up for people across Inverclyde.” The Morton fan, who also used to play in goal for Port Glasgow Juniors, joked: “On a positive note, now that I know there’s no possibility of going to London there’s nothing in Jim Duffy’s way of signing me.”