 He was the SNP candidate for the Falkirk West seat at the 1997 general election, where he finished as runner-up to Dennis Canavan, winning 8,989 votes (23.43% of votes cast).In 2004 he was appointed by Alex Salmond as the SNP spokesperson on local government, a role he continued in until the elections in May 2007.On 1 December 2007 he was elected to the position of the SNP's first ever Convenor of Local Government, winning 110 of the 150 votes cast by party delegates at the SNP's National Council.