HUMZA Yousaf is to campaign in a byelection caused by an SNP sex scandal after it emerged yet another of the party’s councillors had quit in protest.
The First Minister will join candidate Joe Budd in Bellshill in North Lanarkshire today to try to whip up support ahead of a vote on June 15.
The byelection was triggered by former SNP council leader Jordan Linden quitting after sexual misconduct claims were made against him, which he denied.
Mr Linden stepped down as the £45,000 head of North Lanarkshire last year, a few weeks after the SNP gained control of the council from Labour, admitting he had caused a teenage boy “a sense of discomfort which I entirely regret” at a party in 2019.
After more accusations followed - and were again denied - Mr Linden, the cousin of SNP Glasgow East MP David Linden, quit as a councillor in March.
Last year, eight SNP councillors raised concerns about the local and national party’s handling of complaints against Cllr Linden, and were subsequently sanctioned.
Accused of bringing the party into disrepute for trying to amend a motion to the full council put by the SNP group’s new leader, Tracy Garragher, two of the group were expelled and five suspended for six months earlier this month, leading all to resign from the SNP.
It has now emerged that an eighth councillor, Jim Hume, a long-standing SNP representative in the Wishaw ward, quit the party as well this week to sit as an Independent.
In a short statement, he said: “I am looking forward to working with a group of councillors whose total focus is not party politics but working together for the best interests of all the people in North Lanarkshire.”
On his visit today, Mr Yousaf will claim the SNP has been focused on local issues despite years of bitter infighting involving the council group.
The SNP leader will say: “I am proud that SNP activists the length and breadth of Scotland continue to take our progressive vision and plans for a fairer, greener, wealthier Scotland to the doorsteps.
"I am delighted to join our SNP candidate and local activists to speak to people and businesses in Bellshill about their priorities, and how the SNP is the only party protecting Scotland from the brunt of Westminster policies – in stark contrast to the Tory/Labour coalition in North Lanarkshire Council.
"The SNP is the only party offering a positive alternative to the broken Westminster system for our communities. A vote for the SNP ensures that we can get rid of damaging Tory governments for good.”
Mr Budd, a civil engineer, previously quit the SNP because of policy disagreements and stood against it as an Independent in another North Lanarkshire Council byelection in 2021, coming third.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel