May elections: Warning over Tory 'rogues gallery' standing for councils

Ahead of May’s local ­authority vote, the party has highlighted a “rogues gallery” of councillors who stood for the Conservatives in 2017, including many exposed for having bigoted, ­racist and sexist views.

Examples includes South ­Lanarkshire Tory councillor Colin McGavigan, who now sits as an ­independent after quitting the Tories last year, following an investigation into an offensive social media post which compared those who refuse to “take the knee” to support Black Lives Matter to those who refused to salute the Nazis.

In 2017, Midlothian ­Conservative candidate George McIntyre was found to have posted shocking social media comments, which said he was “sick to the back teeth” of “whinging” Muslims and suggested they should leave the country. He was suspended by his party and did not stand in the election.

After the council elections in that year, it was reported a raft of ­Conservative members with ­“extreme views” had been elected, such as Strathtay councillor Ian James, who described the term “African ­American” as a “stupid, politically correct euphemism”, called ­Nicola Sturgeon a “poison dwarf” and praised Enoch Powell, notorious for his Rivers of Blood speech.

Aberdeenshire councillor Ron ­McKail, below, issued an apology after ­sharing social media posts by far-right groups Britain First and the English Defence League, later claiming he did not know the route of the ­messages. He also posted social media messages mocking women who wear the ­traditional burka Islamic dress.

Fife Tory Kathleen Leslie won a seat despite describing Sturgeon as a “drooling hag”, a “wee fish wife” and a “walking horror show”. She was also selected as a candidate for the General Election in 2019 and for ­Holyrood in 2021.

Tory councillor Derek Wann, who represents Arbroath on ­Angus ­Council, was revealed to be the man behind an anonymous ­Twitter ­account which posted derogatory messages about local politicians. ­Residents later launched a petition to try to get him to step down and he quit his role as the council’s children and learning convener.

However, he is being allowed by the party to stand as a council candidate again after being ordered to attend “ongoing social media training”.

The social media account had been used to post targeted abuse and ­messages described by ­opposition councillors as “misogynistic and transphobic”.

Other Tory councillors have been accused of failing their constituents by not attend meetings or moving out of the communities they are supposed to represent.

Following his election in 2017, ­Aberdeen councillor Brett Hunt ­insisted he was still able to carry out his duties despite having an overseas job – but resigned two years later.

Last year Tony Curtis (above) – who was elected as a Conservative in 2017 – was disqualified from Glasgow City Council after failing to turn up to any meetings for six months. He had been sitting as an independent after ­quitting his party for not ­doing enough to support the fitness ­industry during lockdown.

And it also emerged North Ayrshire councillor Margaret George, below, had not carried out a single surgery in more than four years of sitting on the council.

Three Conservative councillors in Moray were urged to resign by SNP council leader Graham Leadbitter last year as they no longer live in the wards they represent.

Husband and wife Ray McLean and Maria McLean left the area to move to Edinburgh. Frank Brown, who ­represents Elgin North, had ­resided in Aboyne for nearly two years.

AN SNP spokesperson said: “Scotland’s local communities deserve better than desperate Tory attempts to pick anyone whose qualification is an obsession with wanting to keep Westminster control of Scotland.

“This rogues gallery of extremists, bigots, sexists or layabouts with zero commitment to the job says everything about the standard of candidate the Tories put up for local elections.

“Communities across Scotland can’t afford another five years of Tory councillors cut from the same cloth as this shower.

“Local communities deserve representatives who are committed to improving the lives of the people they are elected to serve – not Tories obsessed with flags, who hold extreme views or who don’t do any work.

“This list of shoddy 2017 candidates – many of whom were elected – begs the question of whether the Tories have learned lessons since then or will they let almost anyone stand, with ­little or no checks about their extreme views or commitment to the job?

“Of course, judgment is not a strong point for the leadership of a party that put its trust in Boris Johnson as Prime Minister.

“The council elections in May give the people of Scotland the chance to demonstrate their anger over a Tory party that partied away in ­Downing Street while we all made huge ­personal sacrifices to help fight the pandemic.”

The Scottish Conservatives did not respond to a request for comment.