The Scottish National party (SNP) had hoped Peter Grant would be the man to continue his party’s recent electoral successes at the Glenrothes by-election.

Mr Grant, 48, is the classic local politician. He has lived in Fife for 25 years and, since 1992, has served as councillor for the Glenrothes West and Kinglassie ward.

Having risen through the local party ranks he achieved a breakthrough mirroring his party’s wider successes last year, becoming the first non-Labour leader of Fife council.

Since then he has worked in coalition with the Liberal Democrats. He claims credit for freezing the council tax where it had risen 61 per cent under Labour.

And he has sought to win popularity by abolishing the tolls on the Forth and Tay bridges, which he believes have undermined Scotland’s transport infrastructure and the local economy.

In the last few weeks Mr Grant sought to head to Westminster following the death of Glenrothes’ Labour MP John MacDougall earlier this year.

As an MP Mr Grant would be especially suited to monitoring public spending. He is a qualified accountant and worked in the public sector internal audit until May 2007.

But he also trained as a teacher before entering the world of finance, giving him a grounding in education issues.

Mr Grant, 48, prides himself on his honesty and commitment to local issues. He is a member of the local bowls club and, according to the Fife council website, “enjoys traditional music”.