Police investigate ex-SNP council leader over sexual assault claim

The 27-year-old later quit as a councillor, triggering a byelection in his Bellshill ward.

The Sunday Mail reported that two men had given statements to detectives and that three others had made allegations, some dating back eight years.

Mr Linden, a former chair of the Scottish Youth Parliament, told the paper he did not accept the allegations made against him.

Humza Yousaf, who was campaigning in Bellshill on Saturday ahead of the June 15 vote, has promised an SNP investigation into how the party handled complaints about Mr Linden.

He admitted matters “could have been handled better”. 

Eight SNP councillors who raised concerns about the party’s apparent reluctance to look into Mr Linden’s conduct were sanctioned earlier this month, leading to mass resignations.

Mr Linden became leader of North Lanarkshire last May after the SNP narrowly beat Labour in the local elections.

However within weeks, he faced accusations of sexual misconduct, which he initially denied.

He later admitted causing a teenage boy “a sense of discomfort which I entirely regret” at a party in 2019, although he insisted he had never approached anyone with “ill intent”.

His resignation as council leader led to the collapse of the SNP administration, and Labour returned to take control of the authority. 

After more disputed allegations surfaced, Mr Linden left the council altogether in March saying his resignation was "due to the extreme impact all of this is having on my life". 

Mr Yousaf was asked about Mr Linden while campaigning with SNP byelection candidate Joe Budd in Bellshill. 

He said: “We’re absolutely holding our hands up - I, as First Minister and leader of the party, say that things of course could have been handled better. That’s why we’ll do the investigation.

“What we’ve got here now in North Lanarkshire is a Labour council propped up by, frankly, the Conservatives, and that’s not serving the people of this area well at all.”

He called Mr Budd, who previously quit the SNP over policy disagreements and stood against it as an Independent in a 2021 council bylection, as a “great candidate”.

However he admitted the party faced a tough contest in the circumstances.

Mr Yousaf denied the SNP protected sexual predators.

The SNP previously faced claims that it protected MP Patrick Grady when he was accused of sexual harassment while SNP chief whip at Westminster.

Mr Grady last year admitted making a drunken pass at a younger male SNP staffer and was suspended by the House of Commons for two days.

It emerged then SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford, who had promised “zero tolerance” of harassment in public, had privately urged his fellow MPs to support Mr Grady. 

Mr Grady is now hoping to stand for re-election for the SNP in his Glasgow North seat at the general election.

In relation to Mr Linden, Scottish Tory deputy leader Meghan Gallacher, a North Lanarkshire councillor before being elected an MSP, said: "The fact that this has now become a police investigation only underlines the shameful failures of the SNP in dealing with complaints about Jordan Linden, who had to resign in disgrace. 

“As in the Patrick Grady case, when Ian Blackford rowed in behind the perpetrator rather than the victim, their first thought was to close ranks to protect their party rather than support the complainants. The SNP are mired in scandal nationally and their group in North Lanarkshire have serious questions to answer."

Scottish Labour business manager Martin Whitfield added: "These are serious allegations and the police must be given the time and space to investigate them fully. A number of institutions - most clearly the SNP - will have questions to answer and they should do so fully."

A Police Scotland spokeswoman said: “Officers are investigating a report of a sexual assault incident having taken place in 2017. Enquiries are at an early stage and ongoing.”