A Scottish journalist is standing as a candidate in next month's Italian general election.

Ron MacKenna, who writes for The Herald in Glasgow, wants to represent people of Italian origin living abroad, as an MP for the "constituency of Europe".

He was born and brought up in Scotland, but his mother is Italian and he holds dual British and Italian nationality.

His bid follows the creation of a number seats in the Italian parliament for expatriates, where the candidates and voters do not live in Italy.

Italian passport holders had previously been eligible to vote in the country's national elections but had not been able to stand as a candidate.

If elected, Ron will concentrate on the issues affecting Scottish-Italians and other Italians living abroad, focusing on problems they face with land ownership and pensions.

Up to 70,000 people of Italian origin currently live in Scotland, of which around 10,500 are eligible to vote.

Italians go to the polls on April 9 and 10, but postal votes have to be in at the Italian consul in Edinburgh by Tuesday.

Campaign manager Massimo Franchi told HoldtheFrontPage: "Our chances of winning are pretty remote as we've only had three or four weeks to prepare, so this is something of a dummy run.

"Maybe next time we can make more of a robust challenge, but we are still hopeful."