Former Skye councillor Drew Millar is aiming for a return to local politics on an SNP ticket.
The Free Press understands that Mr Millar is one of three seeking the SNP nomination to contest the forthcoming Eilean a’ Cheò ward by-election following the recent resignation of independent member Ronald MacDonald.
Mr Millar’s 25-year stint as a councillor came to an end when he lost out in the local elections of 2017.
His time as a councillor began and ended as an independent, though in-between-times he also stood and won as a Liberal Democrat.
He backed Scottish independence in the 2014 referendum, and later that year resigned his LibDem membership in controversial circumstances when the party began disciplinary proceedings against him after he had shared online posts originating from far-right group Britain First.
The incident cost Mr Millar his chairmanship of the council’s community safety, public engagement and equalities committee, though he would later return to a senior post as the education committee chair.
The two others seeking the nationalist nomination are local SNP branch activists Andrew Kiss and Ewen MacLeod.
Calum MacLeod stood and won as an SNP candidate in 2017, but withdrew from the party group after a domestic abuse charge. He has continued in post as a non-aligned member.
Ronald MacDonald resigned in December, and the by-election is due to be held in March.