A senior UKIP figure in Scotland accused of making indecent phone calls is in the running to be one of the party’s Holyrood candidates.
Misty Thackeray, who faces charges under the Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act, is going through UKIP’s selection process, according to party MEP and Scotland leader David Coburn.
The candidates will be imposed by a committee led by an official who stood for UKIP in Northamptonshire.
UKIP, which is against mass immigration and the European Union, has struggled in Scotland in comparison to others parts of the UK.
However, Coburn became the party’s first elected representative in 2014 and a Survation opinion poll published yesterday predicted a Holyrood breakthrough on the regional Lists in May.
Although candidates have been selected by every other mainstream political party, UKIP has yet to make any announcement.
Internal divisions over Coburn’s selection as an MEP candidate in 2014 resulted in the Scottish wing being put into ‘special measures’ – a decision that still holds today.
Speaking to the Sunday Herald, Coburn said Holyrood candidates would be picked and ranked by UKIP director Paul Oakden, a UK official who was the regional organiser for the East Midlands and a former council candidate south of the border.
“He does the candidates’ assessments with the team and they rank the candidates,” Coburn said.
On why the Holyrood selection process is being determined by officials outside Scotland, the MEP said: “I prefer to have that as I don’t want any accusation of bias.”
Coburn also revealed that his ally Thackeray could be a Holyrood candidate and a potential MSP.
Thackeray temporarily stood down as UKIP Scotland chair recently after it emerged he had appeared in court in January on six charges.
He was charged under a section of legislation which makes it an offence to “send a sexual verbal communication to another person without their consent.”
He was reportedly detained on January 22 and later appeared in private at Glasgow Sheriff Court.
Asked whether Thackeray would be a Holyrood candidate, Coburn said: “I see no reason why not.”
On whether Thackeray is going through the candidate process, the MEP added: “Yes, absolutely.”
He added: “A man is innocent until proven guilty.”
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