FORMER First Minister Henry McLeish has come under renewed pressure over his leadership of a powerful colleges body as another member quit, blaming poor governance.

In scathing letter of resignation, Barclay McCrindle, president and chief executive of the Glasgow Clyde College Student Association (GCCSA) said students in Glasgow were being "badly let down" by the regional board chaired by Mr McLeish.

The resignation from the Glasgow Colleges Regional Board takes the number of resignations to three in 24 hours.

Professor Pamela Gillies, the principal of Glasgow Caledonian University, and Maureen McKenna, the education director of Glasgow City Council, both stepped down on Monday citing concerns over the way the board is being run.

The move comes just weeks after the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) called for an independent review of the board, which controls Glasgow's three colleges - City of Glasgow College, Clyde College and Glasgow Kelvin College.

The board should have been in a position to take over the administration of the £80 million total funding for the sector in April, but the date has now been moved back to August after the SFC ruled the body was "far from ready".

The trigger for the resignations came when Mr McLeish circulated a draft letter of complaint to board members about the way the issue was handled by SFC chief executive Laurence Howells.

In a letter to Mr McLeish, tendering his immediate resignation, Mr McCrindle said Glasgow's status as a "positive example of a strong college region" had faltered.

He said: "Ultimately, these are concerns that start and stop with how the region is being led at a Board level, and are exacerbated by ongoing issues of poor governance.

"That the SFC has been forced to move back the date at which Glasgow can become responsible for its own budget and running speaks volumes, but to then see the board encouraged to sign a letter of complaint to the SFC for attempting to rectify those problems shows how deep rooted issues of poor governance are, and an unwillingness on the part of the regional board to accept those or act to improve them."

The row comes just two months after the principal of Glasgow Clyde College, Susan Walsh, was suspended pending a review amid claims of a "perceived culture of fear and bullying".

Mr McCrindle went on: "The last couple of months have shown issues of bad governance at local colleges that are simply unacceptable. We would have expected to see strong and decisive action at a regional level in relation to those, but there has only been silence."

Gordon Maloney, president of NUS Scotland, said it was a "hugely worrying" development.

"We've long said that Henry McLeish needs to get a grip of the situation and win back the trust of students. That's not happened and instead we've seen three resignations in 24 hours. Everyone involved in the running of the Glasgow colleges must accept the need for an urgent review by the Scottish Funding Council, and any recommendations it makes.

"The time for passing the buck has stopped and the Glasgow regional board, but particularly the Chair, needs to step up and recognise the mess they've created and how they can improve it for students."

However, Mr McLeish, who stepped down as First Minister in 2001 amid a financial scandal, rejected the criticism.

He said it "didn't make sense to enter the fray" while investigations were ongoing into Clyde College, adding: "It was the unanimous decision of the board [not to get involved] and it's important to note that on both occasions the key student representatives were in attendance and supported the action taken by the regional board."

Asked whether he accepted any personal responsibility for board members quitting, he added: "Absolutely not."