SCOTLAND’S ethics watchdog has been asked to investigate the SNP candidate tipped to be the next leader of Edinburgh City Council over undeclared business interests.
Frank Ross is the subject of several formal complaints to the Standards Commission for Scotland, after the Herald revealed he failed to declare he owned a Highland hotel.
The depute leader of Edinburgh City Council bought the 11-bed Silverfjord hotel in Kingussie for £160,000 last year using a company in which he was the major shareholder.
His wife, son and daughter were also shareholders in Silverfjord Kingussie Limited.
Under the Councillors Code of Conduct, the venture should have been declared as income, property and shareholdings, but never appeared on Mr Ross’s register of interests.
The SNP is trying to replace Labour as the largest party in the capital on May 4.
However the Standards Commission has the power to suspend councillors for failing to declare interests - something which could prove fatal for Ms Ross’s leadership ambitions.
A member of the public and Tory MSP Miles Briggs are among those who have complained.
Mr Ross told the Herald he was confident he had declared the hotel, but when pressed admitted he could not remember if he had, and had not double-checked his register.
He later told the council he would update his register with the relevant paperwork.
Labour MP Ian Murray said Mr Ross, who recently caused controversy by questioning the Scottishness of Unionist parties, was “becoming a liability for the SNP”.
Mr Ross, 58, who trained as an accountant, was absent from the SNP local election launch in
Edinburgh yesterday, where he had been due to appear alongside Nicola Sturgeon.
The SNP initially said Mr Ross’s mother was unwell, then said it was his father who was ill.
Asked if she considered Mr Ross a suitable candidate for council leadership, Ms Sturgeon said: “Yes. I understand Frank is of the view that he filled in the paperwork around that.
“He’s trying to establish the situation with the council and make sure his register of interests is up-to-date. But I know he’s a person very much with local interests at heart, and I know will fight very hard with his colleagues in this campaign.”
Asked if she thought Mr Ross was now a “liability”, she said: “No, I don’t.”
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