Landmark victory for Scottish Lib Dem …

… in the Poppyscotland Poppy Ride event at Holyrood!

Party loyalty was in scarce supply at Holyrood yesterday as it was every man and women for themselves at Poppyscotland’s Poppy Ride event.

This was the second time Scotland’s leading Armed Forces charity had organised the Poppy Ride event, which saw MSPs compete on an exercise bike to see who could cover the greatest distance in four minutes.

Poppyscotland was encouraging politicians from across the divide to go the extra mile in their support for this year’s Scottish Poppy Appeal, and a total of 31 brave souls joined in.

Claiming the winner’s yellow jersey was leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, Willie Rennie MSP, who covered an impressive 3.31km. That total added nearly a full kilometre to the top distance at last year’s event, which was set by Liam Kerr MSP. Having claimed Holyrood bragging rights in 2017, Mr Kerr had to settle for third place behind Veterans Minister Graeme Day who was second.

Just missing out on a top three finished once again was former Olympian and now Scottish Conservative MSP Brian Whittle, who finished an agonising 1/100 of a kilometre behind Mr Dey.

The fastest female MSP was Conservative Margaret Mitchell, who travelled 2.50km and was presented with her yellow jersey by the Presiding Officer Ken Macintosh MSP at a Holyrood reception last night to mark the start of the 2018 Scottish Poppy Appeal. Scottish Labour MSP Kezia Dugdale and the SNP’s Gillian Martin came second and third respectively.

Speaking at the conclusion of the Poppy Ride, Poppyscotland Chief Executive Mark Bibbey said: “This was another hugely successful event, and we’d like to thank all of the MSPs who joined in. While there were lots of laughs and banter, it was another important opportunity for Poppyscotland to highlight the issues facing the Armed Forces community and remind our politicians why the Scottish Poppy Appeal continues to be so vitally important in raising funds to support them.

“Poppyscotland is the only charity officially recognised by the Scottish Parliament and I would like to express my thanks to the Presiding Officer for hosting our Poppy Ride and reception events.”