Cllr John Duff and Rhona Metcalfe have been selected by the Scottish Conservatives to contest the elections in the Highland Ward of Perth and Kinross in May 2022.
Cllr John Duff has represented the Highland Ward for the Scottish Conservatives for the last four years. A former police superintendent, John served with Strathclyde Police for 30 years before retiring and returning to his hometown of Aberfeldy where he currently lives. Since being elected in 2018, John has been very active in representing his ward and is currently Deputy Leader of the Administration, Convener of the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee and Vice Convener of the Lifelong Learning Committee.
Outwith the Council, John is very involved in the local community. He is an Elder at Weem Church, President and Chair of Aberfeldy Gaelic Choir and a volunteer with Poppy Scotland and Children’s Hospices Across Scotland (CHAS).
Commenting John said:
“It has been a great honour to have served as the elected member for the Highland Ward during these last four years and I will be seeking re-election in May. My time as a Councillor has been extremely busy, especially during the pandemic, where I have been trying to help residents who are struggling to make ends meet, looking after the elderly and vulnerable, and supporting local businesses.
During my term in office, I have worked hard across Highland Perthshire and enjoyed helping and representing local people and organisations and dealing with a great many and varied local issues. In particular, I am pleased to have been directly involved in the creation of the Highland Perthshire Learning Partnership, a beneficial collaboration between Breadalbane Academy and Pitlochry High School, and that the Conservative Administration agreed to finance the Visitor Ranger Service, which has been such a success in managing visitors to our rural areas. If re-elected, I pledge to work equally hard for the Highland Ward and to build on the work of my first term.
Standing alongside John at the election is Rhona Metcalfe. Rhona is a military veteran who served in the Royal Air Force for 28 years and on leaving in 2017, returned to Scotland to run a business with her husband. Additionally, Rhona is the chair of the Blair Atholl Business, Community & Tourism Association and in 2021, became a volunteer with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission looking after several military graves in the Blair Atholl / Pitlochry area.
Commenting following her selection, Rhona said,
“I want to be part of the local decision making for my area and I want the people in Highland ward and across Perthshire to have a voice and be listened to. Councillors are the connection between local people and government and I want to support my local ward to achieve the best results for everyone in it.
“It is my belief that every business deserves an opportunity to develop and prosper; every family deserves excellent schools providing an outstanding education for their children and that everyone has access to well-run local services. I want to contribute to the already excellent work achieved by Perth and Kinross Council in the last 5 years, and I’m looking forward to meeting as many people as possible across the ward to hear their views on what’s important to our local area.”
