VOTERS in a council ward in Glasgow could potentially be without a councillor for months – after Mary McNab was forced to resign following a legal blunder.
The National’s sister paper The Herald previously revealed that McNab, who had been elected for Glasgow North East, was forced to resign after being caught out by the law.
She was blocked from taking her seat after failing to quit her job with Glasgow City Council and disqualified after failing to quit her job with the authority.
The Local Government Scotland Act gives council employees a working day to hand in their notice following the election.
McNab was named the winner of the by-election at 10 minutes past midnight on November 22 and had until 11.59pm on November 25 to quit, but she failed to do so.
Court date set
The Herald now reports that senior officials in the council have been taking legal advice over McNab’s position as this is the first time in the UK such an event has occurred.
Given the lack of precedent, the council has applied to Sheriff Principal Aisha Anwar for a declarator in order to get a definitive ruling on the law.
A procedural hearing has been set for January 24, 2025 but a full hearing won’t take place until February 21.
The decision could come immediately or it could potentially take days or weeks.
The council has three months from the date of the outcome of the hearing to hold a by-election.
The returning officer will also need to take into consideration a range of factors, including the availability of somewhere to hold the count and any holiday periods.
The Herald reports the earliest the by-election could be held is April 3 – more than four months after McNab was disqualified.
Political reaction
The move was met with anger by other parties on the council ,with the SNP describing Labour as “chaotic and incompetent”.
A spokesperson for the party’s Glasgow group said: “Communities like those in the North East rely on strong, active and engaged representation, councillors to fight their corner, and the SNP is proud of its record in the area.
“Yet while Glasgow has a long tradition of Labour politicians missing in action, under Anas Sarwar, the party is now so chaotic and incompetent that it can’t even see an election through without screwing up.
“People in Easterhouse, Ruchazie, Garthamlock, and every other local neighbourhood will be less than impressed at another by-election, costing them in excess of £80,000 and shutting local schools again.
“This mess has been entirely of Labour’s doing, but at no point have they taken any responsibility, apologised, nor offered to reimburse the money this removes from the city’s finances. Rather than disrespect voters, the SNP will continue to deliver locally for residents."
Glasgow Conservative group leader Cllr Thomas Kerr (above) said: “Voters in this ward and across Glasgow will be outraged that Labour’s astonishing oversight will potentially leave them in limbo for months.
“Scottish Labour should foot the bill for this by-election rather than leaving taxpayers to pick up the tab.
“This sorry saga sums up why many Glaswegians are scunnered with politicians. They put their faith in the Labour Party, only to be let down once again by gross incompetence from their group’s leadership."
“It is simply not good enough that this failure to follow the rules could leave Glasgow North East short of a councillor until well into next year."
Both Glasgow City Council and Glasgow Labour declined to offer comment to The Herald.
However, Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar has described the situation as "an administrative mess".
However, he also did not accept that his party held the blame for the issue, saying: "I don't think this one's on the Labour Party, to be honest."
Responding to Sarwar's comments, a spokesman for Glasgow City Council said: “The council’s elections team issues guidance to all candidates and agents in advance of every election, on behalf of the returning officer – this includes the Electoral Commission’s guidance on when employees who are elected to local authorities are required to resign their positions.
“In this case, neither the candidate nor their party sought any further advice from the Returning Officer or from the council’s election team.
“It would not be legal or appropriate to discuss the details of any individual’s employment, without their consent.
"However, nobody would reasonably expect a line manager to offer specialist advice on election law.”
