FIRST MINISTER and SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon opened the party’s Ochil & South Perthshire campaign hub in Alloa this week, alongside candidate Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh.

Around 50 people gathered on Monday outside the new office, which will serve as a base of operations for Tasmina’s campaign.

Ms Sturgeon and her cabinet were touring Alloa and the First Minister officially opened the High Street hub around 6.30pm.

She told the Advertiser: “[Tasmina’s] campaign is going well, she is in an extremely strong position, but Tasmina and her campaigners are working really, really hard for every vote.

“We hope with the right work and the right message, this is a seat we can win.

“Scotland needs strong voices, people who will go to Westminster to stand up for Scotland’s interest and protect the things that really matter, to push the issues that people here care about onto and up the Westminster agenda.

“Tasmina is a powerful campaigner and she’ll be a fantastic representative for this area.” Mrs Ahmed-Sheikh said she was ‘hugely privileged’ to stand for the SNP in the area and have her new office opened by Scotland’s first female First Minister.

She said: “The SNP represents strong voice down in Westminster. People are looking for change – we know off the back of the referendum that people are looking for increased powers for Scotland and we are determined to deliver those extra powers.

“This is a hugely wealthy nation, but the majority of people don’t feel that way.

“We need to make sure they are putting money into jobs, investment and infrastructure as well, making sure the people get the best education they possible can.” The new candidate believes her constituency has a variety of different areas with different problems, with jobs a key issue for Clackmannanshire and tourism and food and drink the biggest concerns among Perthshire residents.

Tasmina concluded: “There is much to be done in this constituency, I think the constituency needs a fresh and strong voice, and a strong woman to get us down at Westminster and raise the profile of this constituency where it matters.”