Former MSP for Na h-Eileanan an Iar, Alasdair Allan speaks to WLS reporter Cara MacDonald as he reflects on almost two decades in Scottish parliament representing his Western Isles home.

At the time of speaking to WLS, Mr Allan was packing up his belongings at this Edinburgh flat and preparing to head back to the island. He was also using this time to reflect on his 19 years in Parliament and how he’s worked to represent the people of the Western Isles, while also giving credit to his fellow MSP’s in Parliament.

“I’ve always believed that politics is a team sport,” he said. “In politics, you have to work as a team to achieve anything.”

The Gaelic journalist-turned-politician said he feels pride in the way he was able to act as “an advocate for individuals”. Bringing attention to a range of issues, whether it be someone looking for a house or seeking medical treatment, he felt “honoured” to be approached by members of the community with a wide range of issues that were of personal importance to each individual.

While housing took a priority for Mr Allan, travel was another focus. While not placing the fault of the ferry fleet’s incessant breakdowns to the narrow ballot result in the elections, he did highlight how the situation came about at a “completely unprecedented time”.

“I’m very conscious that the majority of my job was trying to raise with the government and with CalMac the human consequences of ferries not going. I think that’s something that people outside of island communities don’t quite understand, that if the ferries don’t go then the shops don’t have food and people can’t visit their relatives in hospital, the list goes on and on.

“It’s also a difficult one because there isn’t a solution without new ships. Anyone, whether it’s politicians or anyone else who says there’s some magic solution, there isn’t. The only solution is new vessels and more responsive management from CalMac.”

Now with his time in office behind him, he still believes many of the big challenges that arose in his time are still to be looked after. This includes travel, especially ferries, housing, and ensuring Gaelic is promoted not just in the Western Isles but throughout Scotland.

His efforts in promoting and encouraging Gaelic to be spoken has been a priority throughout his time in office. Something he wanted to improve was the interpretation of the language and culture as he found people underestimated how “fascinating Gaelic is”.

Overall, the former MSP looks back with pride as his time in office has come to an end.

He said, “It’s been the greatest honour of my life to represent the people of the Western Isles. Partly, because the Western Isles is such an amazing place, but also because I’ve spent my youth campaigning for there to be a Scottish Parliament.

“When I was in school, there was no sign of Scotland having anything like a democracy. I’ve always believed very strongly in a Scottish parliament, and it doesn’t really matter whether I’m in it or not.”

He praised not just the work of politicians, but the teams who worked behind the scenes during campaigns and the support they give to their parties.

“I had a good team of activists who came out and worked hard and who are motivated by the same things as I am which is about the need for Scottish independence, which is the whole reason I got involved in politics.”

Since the election, Alasdair has been making the transition from MSP by moving out of his Edinburgh flat and signing off employees who worked for him during his time in parliament.

As for future plans, the veteran SNP figure hopes to get back to his writing and continuing his work in encouraging the use of Gaelic, apart from that, he shared he has no “specific plans”.

When reflecting on his time overall as an MSP, Mr Allan said: “It’s a huge privilege to represent a place as amazing as the Western Isles. With so many different communities that have such different needs, it’s also been a privilege to have people come to me with quite personal issues and have them look to me to be able to solve them. I haven’t always been able to solve all of them, but I have tried.

“I think most MSP’s would tell you that’s one of the most rewarding parts of the job.”