GLASGOW Labour have been asked to apologise and foot the bill after a legal blunder looks set to lead to another costly by-election.
Mary McNab won the Glasgow North East by-election at 10 minutes past midnight on November 22.
However, as she is an employee of Glasgow City Council, she was required to resign the next working day under the Local Government (Scotland) Act.
That meant she had until 11.59pm on November 25 to quit.
However, as McNab did not do so, she legally ceased to be a councillor.
Glasgow City Council leader Susan Aitken said she felt for McNab, and that she had been “let down by lazy and incompetent” Glasgow Labour leadership who “seem to think the rules don’t apply to them”.
I feel for Mary McNab who’s been let down by lazy & incompetent @GlasgowLabour leadership, who seem to think the rules don’t apply to them. Not half as let down as folk in the North East ward or the wider city though. An apology at the least is due for this @GlasgowLabour mess https://t.co/q9NGbOzSxd
— Susan Aitken (@SusaninLangside) December 2, 2024
In a post on Twitter/X (above), the SNP politician added: “Not half as let down as folk in the North East ward or the wider city though. An apology at the least is due for this Glasgow Labour mess.”
Annie Wells, a Tory MSP for Glasgow, called for Scottish Labour to "foot the bill for taxpayers" for the by-election.
“With savage SNP cuts hitting councils hard, another by-election is the last thing they need to be shelling out on," the Conservative said.
The Herald revealed that senior officials in the council have been taking legal advice as this is the first time this has happened anywhere in the UK.
Sheriff Principal Aisha Anwar has been asked to provide a definitive ruling on the law.
If she agrees that McNab is no longer a councillor, it will trigger another by-election.
Voters went to the polls earlier this month following the election of Labour’s Maureen Burke (below) to the Commons in July –with only 12.4% of those registered to vote doing so.
A spokesperson for Glasgow City Council told The Herald: “On Tuesday it became clear that the victor in the North East by-election had not resigned from her employment in Glasgow City Council.
“This automatically disqualified her with the effect that she is no longer a councillor and a by-election will need to be held.
“This is however untested legal ground and to ensure the law is being correctly interpreted we will tomorrow begin the process of seeking a declarator from the Sheriff Principal to that effect.”
Scottish Labour have been approached for comment.
