A former political leader has signed up to write a weekly column for a city daily.

Angus Robertson, left, who served as the Scottish National Party’s leader in the House of Commons from 2007 and 20107, has started work as a columnist for the Edinburgh Evening News.

Angus was a journalist before entering front line politics, having worked for both the BBC World Service in Central Europe and the Austrian broadcasting corporation ORF.

In a post on Twitter coinciding with his first column on Tuesday, Angus said he was “honoured” to be starting work for the EEN.

Editor Euan McGrory told HTFP: “Angus is a great signing for the Edinburgh Evening News. He is distinguished politician, who was a stand-out performer in the House of Commons as the SNP’s Westminster leader, and a first-rate journalist.

“Just as importantly for us, he is an Edinburgh lad who loves this great city and is passionate about seeing it continue to flourish for the good of everyone who lives here.

“Alongside our existing columnists, including former Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale and ex-Scotsman editor John McLellan from the Conservatives, we have an unrivalled team offering opinion and analysis on the issues affecting Scotland’s capital from across the political spectrum.

“Informed in part by many years living and working in Europe, I know that Angus will make an important contribution to the debate on Edinburgh’s future. Readers have already been in touch to say how much they have enjoyed his first column.”