An SNP councillor has resigned from her role amid claims an SNP-led council is 'nothing but a dictatorship'.
Councillor Elspeth Kerr, who served the Drumchapel and Anniesland area of Glasgow, said she had made the decision with a 'heavy heart' in a Twitter thread late on Thursday night.
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After being a member of the SNP for 30 years, she said she could not "stand by a party that allows bullying and corruption of this nature".
She also claimed the SNP had been taken over by “middle-class career politicians”.
Former councillor Kerr said that she is "not bullied easily", however she wrote that Glasgow City Council leader Susan Aitken "has tried at every opportunity".
1. It is with a heavy heart that I have to announce that I have resigned from the SNP!
— Cllr Elspeth Kerr (@ElspethKerrW14) July 9, 2020
I have been a member for 30 years.
Glasgow City Council ran by Susan Aitken is nothing but a Dictatorship!
I cannot stand by a party that allows bullying and corruption of this nature.
Her profile description on Twitter has been updated to show she will now stand as an independent candidate.
She wrote: "Every time I tried to express my opinion I was silenced, I feel that my community was/silenced with me.
"I became a councillor to be a voice for my already silenced community not to be silenced more.
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"Under previous administrations, my community's needs went unmet and unheard. I hoped as part of the Glasgow SNP group I would be able to change that."
She added: "People leaving the Labour Party said that they felt they were not leaving their party but that their party had left them and that is how I feel about the SNP In Glasgow.
"As I always have done, I will continue to work hard for the people of Ward 14 as they are my top priority!"
An SNP group spokesman said: "At a meeting with the SNP Whip on Thursday, Cllr Michael Cullen confirmed that he is currently facing potential legal action and would step aside from the SNP in the meantime, in line with party protocol.
"Cllr Kerr objected to this course of action and indicated that she would leave the SNP as a result. While we are disappointed by that decision, we would clarify that Cllr Kerr has at no stage made any allegations of bullying within the SNP group.”
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