THE First Minister has urged SNP members not to campaign for former candidate Neale Hanvey, who has been suspended over alleged anti-Semitic language in social media posts.

Mr Hanvey has been dropped by the party in the fight to win the Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath seat – won by Labour's Lesley Laird in 2017 – while an investigation takes place but he will remain on the ballot paper.

Speaking for the first time about the suspension, Nicola Sturgeon called for local SNP supporters to campaign in neighbouring seats, stressing her party "unfortunately" no longer had a candidate contesting the seat.

"My message to SNP members and activists would be to campaign in neighbouring constituencies," Ms Sturgeon said.

"They're not too far away from Stephen Gethins in North East Fife, for example, so there's plenty of good candidates out there to get out and campaign for."

An investigation into Mr Hanvey's actions has been launched by the party and, asked what would happen if he won the seat, Ms Sturgeon said: "He's suspended at the moment, there's disciplinary action that will flow from that and it would not be appropriate for me to comment while that's ongoing."

Ms Sturgeon also addressed speculation Mr Hanvey may have been axed because of his views on trans rights.

She said: "He was suspended because of the anti-Semitic comments he made and that is the long and short of it."

Mr Hanvey has apologised "unreservedly" for his actions and confirmed his suspension relates to a social media post he made over two years ago.

It included an image of billionaire George Soros as a puppet master controlling world leaders.

He said: "Although I do not in any way consider myself anti-Semitic, on reflection the language I used was, and this is clearly unacceptable."

Mr Hanvey said that while the suspension was "upsetting" for him, he fully supported the decision to suspend him.

Because the deadline for registering candidates has passed, Mr Hanvey will still appear on the ballot paper as the SNP candidate.

His suspension from the party means they won’t support him or pay for any campaigning materials.

Even after Ms Sturgeon's comments though, one of the SNP’s longest-serving councillors has said he was still willing to “accept the consequences” of campaigning for the ousted Mr Hanvey.

George Kay, who was, until 2017, Kirkcaldy’s longest-serving councillor, has thrown his weight behind Mr Hanvey.

In a Facebook post, Mr Kay said he was “faced with a dilemma” but "the honest thing would be to weigh my party membership of 45 years against the need to see a dedicated, responsible person represent us at Westminster".

A number of activists have also come out to support Mr Hanvey and a fundraiser set up on Saturday night smashed its £2,000 target in less than 24 hours, and now sits at more than £4,000.