A former councillor has been censured by a standards watchdog after using a background which stated ‘SNP CUTS HURT GLASGOW’ during an online meeting.
Martin McElroy, ex-Labour councillor for Springburn/Robroyston, displayed the caption over photos of overflowing bins and piles of rubbish while speaking at a Microsoft Teams meeting in the run-up to the Scottish Government elections last year.
Mr McElroy, who was standing as a candidate for Glasgow Provan, later posted an image of the background on his councillor Facebook page and wrote ‘WARNING! OFFENSIVE CONTENT!’.
A complaint over his conduct was submitted to the Ethical Standards Commissioner by former SNP councillor Jennifer Layden. The acting commissioner, Ian Bruce, completed an investigation and sent a report to the Standards Commision for Scotland.
Members of the Standards Commission ruled Mr McElroy had breached the Councillor’s Code of Conduct after a hearing in Glasgow on Wednesday. They decided the ex-councillor, who did not attend the hearing, had used “council facilities” for party political or campaigning purposes during the pre-election period.
It was also deemed his actions were disrespectful to his fellow councillors, the meeting chair [the Lord Provost] and council officials.
The censure means the Standards Commission’s “severe and public disapproval” of the councillor’s actions will be recorded. The hearing panel said Mr McElroy couldn’t be suspended as he is no longer a councillor and his conduct did not warrant disqualification from holding office.
At the meeting in April last year, an SNP councillor said the background was “highly inappropriate”. Mr McElroy agreed to blur the image after a request from the Lord Provost. The Labour councillor said: “My apologies to anyone who that background may have offended, it wasn’t my intention.”
He later added: “SNP cuts have been biting Glasgow for 14 years. We need proper funding for our city, our city deserves better.”
The council’s legal team removed part of the webcast of the meeting, showing the background, before it was posted online.
Mr Bruce, the commissioner, decided there had been a breach of the code but said the panel would need to determine whether Mr McElroy had freedom of expression under article 10 of the European Convention of Human Rights.
He believed Mr McElroy “was entitled to express the views that he did”. “I felt that it would be difficult to take the view that his article 10 rights were not applicable in this case,” he said.
“However, I do understand that there may be a higher expectation when it comes to conduct in the chamber. I do understand that it is magnified during the pre-election period.”
Mr Bruce also said there was “uncertainty” over whether Mr McElroy had used his council-issued laptop to attend the meeting. The councillor had been unable to recall and couldn’t find evidence of the background on his laptop while council officials also weren’t able to confirm.
Michael McCormick, the Standards Commission member who chaired the hearing, said: “The panel considered that former Cllr McElroy’s actions, which were the subject of the complaint, had the potential to damage the reputation of the council and result in it failing to comply with legislative requirements.”
Mr McElroy’s decision to use the background was ruled to be “disrespectful” as the Local Government Act 1986 prohibits councils from “publishing any material that could be perceived as seeking to influence public opinion or promoting a particular candidate or political party”.
Officials had issued guidance to councillors before the meeting, which reminded them council resources could not be used to support a party or election candidate. The Lord Provost, who was chairing the meeting, had reminded attendees about the guidance.
The hearing panel decided the 1986 Act’s intention of enabling fair elections was a “sufficient” reason to interfere with Mr McElroy’s freedom of expression.
Panel members believed regardless of whether Mr McElroy used a council laptop to attend the meeting or publish the Facebook post, it was evident “council facilities” – officers’ services, software and webcasting – were used at the meeting.
Mr McElroy, in a written submission, had said he had been trying to express views on behalf of his constituents and he had not considered the background would breach pre-election guidelines.
He said the background mirrored an amendment to the motion being discussed by the council during the meeting, which referenced alleged failures by the council administration on waste disposal. He claimed his actions should be classed as ‘business as usual’ rather than ‘campaigning’.
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