Labour has been told to “foot the bill” for a by-election in Glasgow triggered after the party’s newest councillor was disqualified for failing to quit her job with the council.

The Tories said the situation with Mary McNab could only be the result of “gross incompetence”.

Meanwhile, the SNP said the city deserved an apology from Anas Sarwar’s party.

On Monday, The Herald revealed that Ms McNab was no longer an elected member after falling foul of the Local Government Scotland Act, which bans councillors from also being council employees.

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The legislation gives the newly elected a working day to hand in their notice.

Ms McNab had until midnight 23:59 on November 25 to quit. However, she did not. Labour has still not said why she did not.

Senior officials in the council have been taking legal advice as this is the first time this has happened anywhere in the UK.

While confident in their position, given the lack of precedence, they have now applied to Sherrif Principal, Aisha Anwar, for a declarator, to get a definitive ruling on the law.

If she agrees that Ms McNabb is no longer a councillor, it will trigger another costly by-election.

Glasgow City Council leader Susan Aitken demanded an apology from Labour, who she said had “let down” Ms McNab.

Posting on social media platform X, she said: “I feel for Mary McNab who’s been let down by lazy & incompetent @GlasgowLabour leadership, who seem to think the rules don’t apply to them.

“Not half as let down as folk in the North East ward or the wider city though. An apology at the least is due for this @GlasgowLabour mess.”

Scottish Tory Glasgow MSP Annie Wells said: “Voters in this ward and across the city will be astonished at this oversight. If another by-election ultimately takes place, Scottish Labour must foot the bill for taxpayers.

“Only gross incompetence could have led to such a situation. Surely Scottish Labour were fully aware that if their candidate won last month, she would have to immediately resign her role with the city council.

“There can be no excuse for her failing to do so. With savage SNP cuts hitting councils hard, another by-election is the last thing they need to be shelling out on."

Voters in Glasgow North East went to the polls earlier this month following the election of Maureen Burke to the Commons in July.

Turnout was exceptionally low in the ward, with just 12.4% of those registered to vote doing so.

Ms McNab won 34.3% of first preference votes, just ahead of the SNP’s 32.2%. Reform UK came third with 18.3%.

On Monday, a spokesperson for Glasgow City Council told The Herald: “On Tuesday it became clear that the victor in the North East by-election had not resigned from her employment in Glasgow City Council.

“This automatically disqualified her with the effect that she is no longer a councillor and a by-election will need to be held.

"This is however untested legal ground and to ensure the law is being correctly interpreted we will tomorrow begin the process of seeking a declarator from the Sheriff Principal to that effect."

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Last month, a councillor in Edinburgh triggered a by-election when she quit just eight days after being elected.

Lib Dem Louise Spence comfortably won the Colinton/Fairmilehead ward in a campaign which contrasted her local roots with her rivals who lived elsewhere in the capital..

However, she then announced she would be stepping down due to a “sudden change in personal circumstances,” saying she was “truly sorry at what has happened”.

The Daily Record reported that her Colinton property had been put on the market on November 15, the day after the by-election, for offers over £730,000. Reports suggested she was looking to split her time between Dubai and Edinburgh.