George Adam said he was “absolutely elated” after holding the Paisley constituency for the SNP in the 2026 Scottish Parliament election.
Speaking after the declaration at Braehead Arena, the returning MSP said: “If I can’t be a centre-half for St Mirren, I am more than happy being Paisley’s MSP.
“I was never good enough to be a professional footballer, so I’m happy to be representing our town in Scotland’s Parliament.”
Adam said he and his team would now continue their constituency work following his re-election.
He said: “Myself and my team will go back out to the constituency office and continue the work we’ve been doing for the last 15 years representing the people of Paisley.
“Whether that’s people contacting us for day-to-day constituency work, or whether it’s the political beliefs of the SNP and pushing towards the idea of an independence referendum.
“I do believe that independence is the solution to many of the issues and challenges we’re currently facing, and I think more and more people are coming to that conclusion as well.”
Speaking about representing the town, he added: “I’m happy being Paisley’s man in Parliament.
“That’s the most important thing and always has been the most important thing to me because I always keep myself grounded.
“Take the boy out of Paisley, but you can’t take Paisley out of the boy.”