Council chiefs have been branded ‘incompetent’ after a local authority by-election was scrapped just weeks before it was due to be take place.
SNP-run Renfrewshire Council has announced that the proposed poll for the Paisley Southeast ward, due to be held on Tuesday 14 December, will now not go ahead.
The vote was being held after the recall of independent councilor Paul Mack, who was disqualified from the seat after being found guilty of breaching standards.
But Mr Mack has now launched an appeal against that decision at the Court of Session, meaning the by-election cannot be held within the expected timeframe.
It was claimed the councillor, who had been a member Renfrewshire Council for 25 years, had directed a hate campaign towards fellow ward representatives Eddie Devine and Alistair Mackay.
The Standards Commission for Scotland had previously banned Mr Mack after he made claims that Councillor Devine had influenced council officers into allocating his daughter a house.
He also launched a series of “offensive and demeaning personal attacks” on the pair, the Commission said, which went “well beyond what might be considered normal or even acceptable in a party political context” and amounted to harassment.
Absolute shambles. Paisley Southeast council by-election is off because SNP run @RenCouncil didn’t do their homework.
— Neil Bibby (@NeilBibby) November 25, 2021
This is unprecedented.
Postal votes & polling cards have already been sent out. How much time & public money has been wasted due to this gross incompetence?
The housing allocation was reviewed by Renfrewshire Council’s chief auditor and then Audit Scotland, which concluded that the council property was appropriately let and that there was no influence, or opportunity for influence.
Mr Mack had denied any wrongdoing and took the council to court.
The decision to halt the vote comes while local parties were in the middle of campaigning.
Scottish Labour’s Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, described the situation as an “absolute shambles”.
He Tweeted: "Paisley Southeast council by-election is off because SNP run [Renfrewshire Council] didn’t do their homework. This is unprecedented.
“Postal votes & polling cards have already been sent out. How much time & public money has been wasted due to this gross incompetence?”
Renfrewshire’s Returning Officer, Ken Graham said: “Following legal advice, I can confirm the decision to cancel the Paisley Southeast by-election due to be held on 14th December.
“The decision not to proceed follows correspondence from Mr Mack’s solicitor to confirm he has lodged a further appeal against his qualification with the Court of Session. There is no indication of when this will take place. Mr Mack’s last appeal against disqualification was rejected in full by the Sherriff Principal in October.
“We apologise to Candidates and Agents involved and to local voters in the Paisley Southeast ward, recognising the disruption and inconvenience caused. Please be assured every reasonable step was taken to ensure the vacancy could be filled.
Mr Graham added: “The immediate priority is to work with the Electoral Commission and others in relation to the practical steps to bring the election process to an end and to ensure local voters are aware the election will not go ahead.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel