A SCOTTISH Nationalist councillor and former MP has been turned down
for re-selection as an SNP council candidate in Grampian Region.
Regional councillor Mr Hamish Watt, SNP MP for Banffshire from 1974 to
1979, has appealed against the surprise decision by his Moray
constituency group.
Mr Watt, chairman of Grampian's education committee, was originally
put forward by the Buckie branch for the Rathford-Lennox seat which he
has held for nearly six years.
Councillor Gordon McDonald, SNP group leader in the region, and the
convenor of Moray constituency, said the decision had been a proper one
and an appeal would be heard at national level in the near future.
Earlier this year, Councillor Watt refused to join a poll tax protest
walk-out at the region by Councillor McDonald and five other SNP
members.
Mr Alan McKinney, SNP national organiser, said he could not comment on
the reasons for the constituency decision.
The SNP is also involved in an internal dispute at the other end of
the country.
Mr Stephen Norris, a Wigtown District councillor who contested the
Galloway and Upper Nithsdale seat for the party at the last General
Election, had his application to join the General Election candidates
list deferred by the party earlier this year.
His appeal against the decision has since been turned down. He said
yesterday that he believed the decision was linked to his comments on
the Scottish constitutional convention, urging the party to take part.
He also criticised the ''harsh'' way the SNP had presented its
policies and attacked its main opposition since the dramatic by-election
win by Jim Sillars in Govan.
He added: ''We were beginning to take on the mantle of a mature,
national party, but with the convention decision we are back at square
one.''
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