General election results: Five SNP MPs to watch

Tommy Sheppard (Edinburgh East)

A familiar face around the Scottish capital, he is the director of the Stand Comedy Club, which he started as a hobby and has since turned into one of the biggest venues at the Edinburgh Fringe. Four days before the Scottish independence referendum, he organised the pro-Yes “Night for Scotland” concert which featured Amy Macdonald, Franz Ferdinand, Frightened Rabbit and Mogwai.

He has only been a member of the SNP since September, having previously worked for the Labour Party. Born in Coleraine in Northern Ireland, he lived in London for around ten years and became deputy leader of Hackney Council, before moving back to Scotland in 1993.

Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh (Ochil and South Perthshire)

The 44-year-old has had a varied career, working both as a lawyer and as an actress for Indian television. Previously a member of the Conservatives, she stood for the Scottish Parliament in 1999 but later left the party over its policy on asylum seekers. “I didn’t choose the Conservative party, I was born into it,” she said later.

Born in London to an Indian father and a half-Welsh, half-Czech mother, she was brought up in Edinburgh where she also attended university. A practising Muslim, in 2012 she founded the Scottish Asian Women’s Association with the aim of increasing their participation in public life.

Deidre Brock (Edinburgh North and Leith)

Born in Western Australia, she moved to Scotland in 1996 after falling in love with the country while visiting on holiday with her partner. Having studied performing arts at university, she once appeared as a doctor in the TV soap Home and Away, telling a key character that they had a brain tumour.

Having been elected to Edinburgh City Council in 2007, she is currently the city’s Deputy Lord Provost and is also on the board of the Edinburgh International Festival Council and Creative Edinburgh.

Hannah Bardell (Livingston)

After meeting Alex Salmond in 2007 while she was working for GMTV, she gave up her career as a journalist to work for the SNP’s election campaign. For the next three years she managed the former party leader’s constituency office before taking time away from politics to work for the US State Department and then in the oil and gas sector.

In her spare time she enjoys playing the guitar and singing – last month she gave a rousing rendition of “Caledonia” in an Edinburgh pub as part of a “YeSNP” event in favour of independence.

Chris Law (Dundee West)

Recognisable by his ponytail, the businessman has been involved with the SNP for more than a decade. He attracted attention during the referendum campaign thanks to his “Spirit of Independence” road trip, which saw him driving across Scotland in a refurbished Green Goddess fire engine to spread the Yes message.

A trained chef, he previously ran a business offering tours of the Himalayas atop 1950s motorcycles. He said yesterday he had been working so hard that he “literally fell asleep in my dessert” while he was out celebrating his election as an MP.