GLASGOW Girl Roza Salih last night said, “I’m ready to make history” after she was selected to stand in the council elections for the SNP.

Salih, who came to Scotland as an asylum seeker from Iraq as a child, will have her name on the ballot paper as the party try to win control of Glasgow City Council in May.

The 27-year-old campaigned her way to national renown as part of a group of school friends who fought against dawn raids.

Dubbed the Glasgow Girls, the seven began their push after one youngster was taken into an immigration detention centre. Their story, which has since been made into TV and stage shows, helped change government policy.

Now the trade unionist is to stand for election to “pay back” the community that took her family in.

Originally from Kirkuk, they fled their home country in fear of the Saddam Hussein’s regime, which executed her grandfather and two uncles.

They were given a home on the 22nd floor of a high rise in the Knightswood area. Ward 13, which Salih hopes to represent, takes in lower Knightswood, Garscadden and Scotstounhill and if she is successful she will become the first former refugee and first Kurd elected to public office in Scotland.

Last night she told The National: “I’m ready to make history.

Campaigning starts now. It feels really incredible.”

Salih, who aims to empower the local community if elected, served as vice-resident of diversity on the students’ union during her time at Strathclyde University and now works for Glasgow South West MP Chris Stephens.

Stephens said: “Roza has demonstrated over the past year working for me that she cares about people..

“She will be a fantastic councillor if elected, and I hope she is, and will open up another chapter in Glasgow’s political history.”

Salih’s decision to stand for nom-ination was revealed in The National last month and made waves across the UK press. At the time, Salih said she was prepared for a backlash from detractors who felt her background as an immigrant made her unsuitable for office.

While she experienced a high level of support from the public, such criticism did surface, and she says she no longer reads online comments, saying: “I want to be positive.”

Salih added: “I know what I want to do for Glasgow and I know we can do it. I know the issues – I understand people who need care, I understand about paying the electricity bill and putting food on the table – and I will give 100 per cent.”

Predictions suggest Labour, which has run the local authority for many years, will suffer heavy losses in the upcoming vote. Several serving councillors have confirmed they will not run again, and one unnamed source said the party was ready to be hit by “an SNP tsunami”.

The ward where Salih will stand is represented by Labour members Liz Cameron and Paul Rooney and the SNP’s Graeme Hendry and Chris Cunningham. Further SNP candidates will be announced in due course.