THE former leader of the SNP in North Lanarkshire has quit the council after fresh allegations of inappropriate behaviour.
Jordan Linden resigned as the £45,000-a–year boss of the local authority last July after admitting he made a teenager uncomfortable with his sexual advances at a party in Dundee in 2019.
Despite being aware of the issue, the SNP failed to act as there was no formal complaint.
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The Sunday Mail revealed that several other men had also complained to the party.
The scandal ultimately led to the collapse of the minority SNP administration in North Lanarkshire, handing control of the council over to Labour.
Over the weekend, the paper obtained a recording of a group meeting shortly after Linden stood down as group leader.
In it, the then deputy SNP leader Tracey Carragher, is heard telling fellow councillors about discussions with the party’s Chief Executive, Peter Murrell.
She told them: “Speaking with the party, speaking with the chief executive, the main thing is for us to have civility. We need to show that we are functioning. We need to have stability. They will pick up on any weakness, any differences within this group.”
Councillor Carragher, now SNP group leader, called for the group to “support Jordan”. She added: “He was hoping to be here tonight but you can imagine this has had a major impact on his mental health.”
Coatbridge councillor Kirsten Larson, then education convener with responsibility for overseeing child protection, claimed Linden had done nothing wrong.
She said: “In my opinion, based on the information I have, the only thing Jordan Linden is guilty of is being a young person.”
The paper shared the testimony of Jack O’Hara who was just 14 when he was targeted by Linden, who was then Scottish Youth Parliament (SYP) chairman.
In 2015, Linden sent Jack unwanted semi-nude lewd images and routinely propositioned him.
Others told the paper that he would often send inappropriate messages and pictures.
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At the time of the 2019 party in Dundee, Cllr Linden was trying to become the SNP Westminster candidate for Coatbridge, and had his own website, backjordan.scot, carrying endorsements from SNP ministers.
Then justice secretary Humza Yousaf said Linden would “make an outstanding MP”.
However, just four days after the party in Dundee, Linden suddenly dropped his plans.
“On reflection, I’ve decided to withdraw and re-focus on my important work locally in Council and on my own health & well-being,” he wrote on Twitter.
The SNP’s internal complaints process is already under scrutiny after former SNP MP Patrick Grady was last month found guilty of harassing a male staffer while drunk in 2016.
In 2020, SNP finance secretary Derek Mackay quit after pestering a 16-year-old boy with predatory texts.
He kept on taking his £64,000-a-year MSP salary until spring 2021 despite never returning to work at Holyrood.
Although the SNP launched an internal investigation into his conduct, it never concluded and was dropped at the 2021 Holyrood election.
A spokesperson for North Lanarkshire Council said: “Councillor Jordan Linden has today intimated his resignation as an elected member to the council’s chief executive. Arrangements for a byelection in the Bellshill ward will be announced in due course.”
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