"I would listen a great deal more, and speak a little less," says Michael Russell, on his planned return to the Scottish Parliament, "And always being aware that politics has got to work its way back into people's trust."

Four years after party colleagues put him so far down the South of Scotland list that he lost his seat, this larger-than-life Nationalist is poised for a return. Although unlikely in the Dumfries seat, where Tories challenge Labour, he is also number two on the SNP regional list, and reflecting on four years out of frontline politics.

"I've done lots of things I would not otherwise have done. Losing your seat is a painful experience, but I've done a lot of writing, I've written four books, I've thought a lot, I've stood for the party leadership battling Alex Salmond when John Swinney stepped down.

"And if I am re-elected, I will go back with a determination to understand that most people regard politics as almost peripheral to their lives. We need to find ways to make politics relevant."

One of his tasks during his enforced sabbatical was to sit on the Arbuthnott commission that looked at the Scottish voting system and political engagement, and he found the research showed people respond to an election campaign with a big issue at its heart.

Mr Russell, aged 53, has known Mr Salmond well for 22 years, though relations have been frostier of late. The party's former chief executive says his leader's potential in government can be judged on the basis of how well he is running the election campaign.

"He's driven, he drives people pretty hard, and he'll be even more driven if he becomes First Minister, because he has ambitions for the country," says Mr Russell.