Caitlin Stott accepts that historically Labour has failed to win over voters in the constituency, with the party losing its deposit at the last General Election in 2019.
But the ‘change’ agenda that Labour is promoting across the UK is starting to cut through locally, she believes.
Caitlin was born in Edinburgh but all her family originate from the Borders.
After studying politics at Edinburgh University, she went on to work as a Freedom of Information officer and then took up a post in the Scottish Parliament, working for former MSP Jayne Baxter.
She was also a senior policy officer with the Scottish Labour Party, specialising in housing and local government.
More recently she has been working on a housing brief for Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland.
On the campaign trail the issues that have been coming up most are the NHS, including access to GPs and community hospitals, in addition to housing, particularly the accessibility of housing.
She said: “It is something I feel really passionate about. The council has declared a housing emergency, the headlines around that are horrendous, including children living in temporary accommodation, you think about people sleeping rough on the streets.
“Sometimes it’s almost hidden housing needs and what we’ve seen are people who almost trapped in their houses because the council haven’t been able to build accessibility into housing and we’ve seen people not being able to get out of their houses for two years, that kind of thing, and the injection of funding into public services, councils in particular, would have a massive positive effect.
“It’s something I feel passionate about. I don’t think people should live in houses not suitable for their needs.”
Mother-of-two Caitlin believes only three parties can take the constituency – Labour, the SNP and the Conservatives.
She said: “It is clearly a three-horse race. I’m a realist and I know that Labour has for a long-time struggled to gain much of a foothold in the Borders, historically it was quite a Liberal seat.
“But this is a ‘change’ election and people in the Borders have a choice to elect a Labour voice in the heart of Westminster, knowing that a Labour vote will count. It’s absolutely a three-horse race and every vote counts.
“I genuinely think this seat could deliver some surprises on the night. We have been getting some very positive feedback on the doorstep with people saying they’re going to vote Labour for the first time and that they think we have a real chance
“I’m not ruling out a shock victory. I’ve worked really hard and I think it would be a great thing for my team and me if we pull it off on the night.”
The candidates for Beriwckshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk are: John Lamont (Conservatives), David Wilson (SNP), Ray Georgeson (Liberal Democrats); Caitlin Stott (Labour), Neil Mackinnon (Greens), Carolyn Grant (Reform), Ellie Merton (Independent); Hamish Goldie-Scot (Scottish Family Party).
Mr Lamont has been the constituency’s MP since 2017.