Three SNP heavyweights face an internal battle to decide who will try to unseat Ruth Davidson at the next Holyrood election.

Joanna Cherry, QC, an MP who has been prominent in the campaign to cancel Brexit by revoking Article 50, is interested in standing for Edinburgh Central in 2021.

It emerged at the weekend that Angus Robertson, the former SNP depute leader and former leader at Westminster, is considering standing in the same seat. They join Alyn Smith, the MEP who was involved in the successful Article 50 court case that has made revocation an option, in the contest for the position.

It means that, despite candidacies for the Labour-held Edinburgh Southern and Liberal Democrat-controlled Edinburgh Western being available, senior nationalists hope to unseat an