A former aide to Alex Salmond has launched a bid to succeed her old boss in his north-east seat at Holyrood, it can be revealed.Jennifer Dempsie, a senior figure behind-the-scenes in the SNP and the independence movement, told the Press and Journal she would seek to be the party’s candidate in Aberdeenshire East next year.The 33-year-old said last night that it was a “great honour” to have been encouraged by colleagues to throw her hat in the ring for nomination, but that it would be a “tough act to follow” for whoever gets the chance.Mr Salmond will stand down as Aberdeenshire East MSP next year following his election as the MP for Gordon in May.Ms Dempsie, who lives in Garmouth in the north-east, began working for the SNP a decade ago as a press officer for Nicola Sturgeon, before being appointed as a special advisor to Mr Salmond when he was first minister.She helped run several election campaigns, was public relations manager for the pro-independence Yes campaign in the run-up to last year’s referendum, and is a former associate director at global communications agency Weber Shandwick.Revealing her bid last night, Ms Dempsie said: “It has been an honour to be encouraged to stand in Aberdeenshire East and after careful consideration, last week I confirmed to the SNP constituency association that I will take part in the selection process for the Scottish Parliament election in 2016.”She added: “Alex Salmond will be greatly missed in the Scottish Parliament.“He has served his constituents with passion and diligence both as their MSP and as first minister, which he is of course continuing for them at Westminster.“It will be a tough act to follow, but if selected, I believe my experience at Holyrood, the Scottish Government, and as an advisor to the former first minister as well as working in PR and journalism in the private sector, will stand me in good stead to deliver on the priorities of the people of Aberdeenshire East.”The Aberdeenshire East constituency was created at the 2011 Scottish elections. • Jennifer Dempsie is an SNP adviser and former special adviser to First Minister Alex Salmond. (Again, there are obviously exceptions to this; again we're talking in probabilities and generalities). Despite the fact that the party itself has honoured or at least admired warrior queens (in the members' estimation) such as Winnie Ewing, Margo MacDonald and even Nicola Sturgeon, the fact remains that women are much less likely to support the SNP than men and, furthermore, this gender gap causes the party some problems.That's a significant gap. Jennifer Dempsie, a former Salmond SpAd, recently had a piece in Scotland on Sunday addressing this very issue. The great ignored truth of the devolution years is that Holyrood has been a bulwark Alex Massie is Scotland Editor of The Spectator. Jennifer Robertson, a former aide to Alex Salmond, has set up a public relations firm alongside Alex MacLeod, an ex-councillor who also worked for the former SNP leader when he was first minister. A former aide to Alex Salmond has launched a bid to succeed her old boss in his north-east seat at Holyrood, it can be revealed. As a general rule - and when it comes to gender one cannot avoid generalisation - this is a kind of politics that, more likely than not, is more attractive to men than to women.But the downside is that they're also conservative. The predecessor seat, Gordon, was held by the Liberal Democrats until Mr Salmond’s victory in 2007.Beijing has increased pressure on Hanoi thereby derailing yet another upstream project in the South China Sea.A state-of-the-art underwater survey robot will be demonstrated for the first time later this month.Angolan contractor Sonamet has completed factory acceptance tests on all flowline structures for the next stage of work on the Zinia field.One of the world’s largest offshore construction vessels has arrived off the coast of Fife.Dutch firm Hereema Marine Contractors (HMC) has broken its own record a single jacket lift.South African Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe has welcomed Odjfell Drilling’s Deepsea Stavanger to Cape Towin.Islamist forces appear to have seized the port of Mocimboa da Praia, in Mozambique’s gas-rich northern Cabo Delgado province.The chief executive of NHV has accused rival helicopter operator Babcock of engaging in a “race to the bottom” after a pair of North Sea contracts with Total changed hands.