POLICE have launched an investigation into Kezia Dugdale’s constituency Labour Party after £10,000 went missing from branch coffers.
According to the Edinburgh Evening News, activists called in police after becoming “fed up” waiting for Labour HQ to look into the missing money.
Constituency members first told party chiefs of the loss in July 2014. An inquiry by the party saw local treasurer Karen Rennie suspended but there has been little progress since, with the party blaming a “significant delay in obtaining full information from the bank and other organisations.”
The party had earned the money through local fundraising. At the time the disappearance was first noticed, a party member complained that there had been “no written financial report at constituency meetings” for several years.
Former Edinburgh Councillor Paul Nolan wrote to Police Scotland asking them to investigate. Nolan said: “It has been 18 months now since we discovered the money was missing. This is a cloud hanging over the local party and we need to get it resolved.
“We need to know what happened, who did what and, if possible, try to recover the money. If that’s not done we will never make progress and never get campaigning properly for the election next year.”
In a letter to party chiefs, Nolan said members were “continuously raising concerns about the lack of audited accounts and financial reporting”.
The party said progress had been made and a report with recommendations for the future management of local party finances would appear in the next few weeks.
A Police Scotland spokesman confirmed officers had received a complaint regarding the local party and said inquiries were ongoing.
Dugdale will be standing as the candidate for Edinburgh Eastern in next year’s Scottish Parliament elections.
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