THE new Shadow Scottish Secretary is looking forward to dealing with a host of constituency business over the summer Parliamentary recess.

Lesley Laird was immensely proud to win the Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath seat at the General Election, which was held for 30 years by her friend and former Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

Ms Laird overturned a 10,000 plus SNP majority to oust sitting MP Roger Mullin and created one of a series of shock results as Labour fought back after their poor showing of 2015.

She admitted to being 'a bit surprised' to be invited to take on the role of Shadow Scottish Secretary by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn but is relishing the challenge that she will face in the coming months.

The lady, who has been combining her roles of MP with that of being a member of Fife Council, admits that everything happened so quickly over the space of a few short weeks after Prime Minister called the snap General Election for June 8.

"We had been involved in the canvassing for the council elections when the Parliamentary poll was set and I was nominated for the Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath seat," she said.

"All of a sudden we were pounding the streets again and I have to say that I felt that during canvassing for the council vote I detected that there was a change in the tide and that our policies were starting to get support.

"A key point in the General Election campaign, I felt, was the launch of the Labour manifesto, which many people clearly felt held solutions for a lot of their questions.

"I was under no illusion though that it was going to be an easy task to over turn the SNP majority but on the run up to polling day I did feel it was something which could be achieved."

Ms Laird increased the Labour vote by 3.5 per cent and with the SNP turn out down by 16 per cent she recorded a 256 majority.

The former Deputy Leader of Fife Council is aware that Brexit will be a major debating point when Parliament resumes in the autumn and she feels that what is decided will be so important for the Scottish economy and also the what happens in Fife.

She said: "In Fife we have a good manufacturing base and it is important that it is not in any way badly affected by the results of the negotiations.

"There are so many aspects of the Brexit negotiations which are going to have to be thoroughly examined for this is something which is completely new to the political scene and wrong decisions could prove critical.

"It is important that democracy is respected in every way. The result of the Referendum might have been something many people did not agree with but that was the decision made and we have to now look to negotiate the best terms possible for the exit.

"How that pans out is crucial and we have to thoroughly examine every move the Government makes on this subject."

When Ms Laird became a councillor in 2012 she was almost immediately involved in the Employability Initiative spawned at Lochgelly High School.

She added: "When I was approached by the Fife Chamber of Commerce about problems of school leavers being ready for the work place that was a real concern.

"It was excellent to see the impact the Employability Initiative had and the support it attracted from the business community.

"The results have been impressive and it has been embraced by every secondary school in Fife and the production line of young people ready for the workplace with the skills they need will have a tremendous impact on the Fife economy.

"It will be excellent to see it make great strides in the school sessions to come and from a Scottish angle it is something that is very, very important."

Ms Laird has moved into her new office at the Evans Business Centre at 1 Begg Place, Kirkcaldy, literally two minutes from the Kirkcaldy West Junction of the A92, easily accessible from the Cowdenbeath-Lochgelly area.

She is going to spend the summer recess tackling the caseload which started to build from the first week after the election.

"I have been putting my team together and we are ready to get out there and offer any help we can to let people get the solutions they are seeking to problems," she concluded.