Roger Mullin (SNP)

Who is he?

Scottish National Party candidate for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath.

Roger is 66 and is married with three adult daughters, and has lived in the constituency for 30 years.

Mr Mullin has contested five previous elections, winning none of them.

Working life:

He is a researcher, and Honorary Professor at the University of Stirling where he teaches Politics, Organisation Studies and Decision Making on postgraduate courses.

Roger is a former Vice Convener of the SNP, and has been party spokesman on the Environment, Industry, and Sport.

Mr Mullin has also advised the United Nations on 24 projects in Africa.

SNP election pledges:

Modest spending increase of 0.5% a year, allowing £140 billion in extra spending.
Annual UK target of 100,000 affordable homes, with added spending benefits for Scotland as a result.
To increase the minimum wage to £8.70 by 2020.
Restore the 50p top rate of income tax for people earning more than £150,000.
Build an alliance of like-minded MPs against the renewal of Trident, instead using the funds to pay for schools and hospitals.
Retain the "triple lock" on pensions to rise at least 2.5% every year, and protect the winter fuel allowance.

About Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath

Kirkcaldy is officially the most populated town in Fife, home to just under 50,000 people, and nicknamed "the lang toun" due to its historic high street, which at one time stretched to four miles long.

The town was the world leader in Linoleum manufacturing until the 1970's, but has since become an administrative, service, and retail centre for the wider Fife area.

Cowdenbeath is a forming coal mining town with a population of around 11,640.

Burntisland, Dalgety Bay, Dysart, Kelty, and Lochgelly are the other towns in the constituency, which includes the villages of Aberdour, Auchtertool, Ballingry, Crosshill, Glencraig, Kinghorn, Lochore and Lumphinnans.

Some of the highest levels of deprivation in Scotland have been recorded in parts of the constituency, including the worst off areas within the two main towns.

There are six secondary schools in the area - Balwearie, Beath, Kirkcaldy, Lochgelly, St Andrews, and Viewforth - and around 20 primaries.

The area is home to Raith Rovers and Cowdenbeath football clubs, who both play in the SPFL Championship, and Elite League ice hockey club Fife Flyers.

Famous philosopher Adam Smith, who has influenced economists for generations, was born in Kirkcaldy and wrote 'The Wealth of Nations' there.

Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath is considered possibly the safest parliamentary seat in Scotland, with former Prime Minister Gordon Brown winning 65% of the vote in 2010, compared to the SNPs 14%.

Mr Brown, who was Chancellor of the Exchequer for 10 years, has been the local MP since the constituency was formed in 2005, having previously served Dunfermline East for over 20 years.

However the SNPs David Torrance took Kirkcaldy in the 2011 Scottish Parliament elections. Helen Eadie won Cowdenbeath for Labour. Following her death in 2013, former Fife Council leader Alex Rowley won the by-election for the party in early 2014.