Following a news story in today's Sunday Herald stating he had illegally taken a position despite being declared bankrupt, the SNP candidate for the Glasgow North East by-election, James Dornan, has stepped down.James had accepted a position as 'partner Director' with Glasgow Culture & Sport despite section 52.1 of the body's Articles of Association stating that an "undischarged bankrupt" (which James was at the time) could not take such a position. To be fair, I can't imagine for one second that section 52.1 was front and centre in anyone's mind when the role was agreed.
So it's a regrettable situation, particularly when so many of our MPs are so very well off, even millionaires, and a dose of knowledge in Westminster's ranks as to what the experience of real financial difficulty is like would be of particular value, above and beyond the skills and knowledge that James Dornan would bring.
And what happens now? Well, who knows.
David Kerr was the other candidate in the contest, defeated by 19 votes to 12 (reaffirming the concern that it's only a mere handful of individuals that decide MPs).
I suspect David will indeed be the candidate and given that the Newsnight Editor was seen as Salmond's preferred choice there may even be a conspiracy theory that the Sunday Herald lead may have come from within the party.
It doesn't look good though. The SNP's initial PPC Grant Thoms stepped down at the 11th hour and now his replacement has stepped down only a matter of days after being voted in as the candidate.
Still, with recent Labour claims that Dornan was the third-choice candidate at least the SNP can now claim that David Kerr is the second-choice!
19 comments:
Wasn't Aileen McLeod a candidate as well?
She was. Either she pulled out early or got no votes.
Or maybe there was two rounds of voting and got knocked out in the first.
Will be interesting to see who is on the next shortlist.
It would be concerning if only 29 branch members turned up for such a crucial vote...
Dornan, did the right thing. Can you imagine how that scenario would have dragged on.
Personally I'd like to see Grant come back in to the reckoning..,
Don't see Grant coming back. Even if he had a second change of heart, Labour would get too much juice out of a 'flip-flopping' candidate.
It's David Kerr I am sure and if James Dornan later finds himself in a very safe constituency or top of the regional list, I reckon questions would have to be asked about this.
Also, if the scenario had dragged on I still reckon it could have been to the SNP's credit.
'Labour candidate attacks SNP candidate for having no money', how would that go down in one of the poorest constituencies in the UK?
The crux of it all is did Mr Dornan act illegally. The last I read was he was taking legal advice about it. Such a shame. I too would like to see Grant return but there's little hope of that.
I've no idea about David Kerr whatsoever so can't comment.
Such a shame though. Will this also affect Mr Dornan's position as a councillor?
It shouldn't affect his position as a Councillor given it was known beforehand.
The issue isn't so much that James hid the facts about being bankrupt, just that it was never appreciated that there was a rule tucked away somewhere that he couldn't take this particular 'partner Director' role.
So no, shouldn't affect his Councillor position at all but we can fully expect Labour to shabbily make some noise about it.
I'm feeling a lot of sympathy for Mr Dornan this evening.
I don't think he did anything illegal. He filled out the forms and submitted them didn't he ? Surely whoever processed them at
Culture and Leisure had a responsibility too. Of course that is run by one Mrs Briget McConnell so it could all have got a bit hairy I suppose.
But I think the press have far too much power. Worries about character assassination is what made Labour drop George Ryan at the last minute at Glasgow East, I have no doubt it has something to do with Grant Thoms lack of willingness, and it seems to have done for Mr Dornan too.
Soon we will have to put up cardboard cutouts as candidates because real people who have lived real lives won't be allowed to stand.
He's not a bankrupt.
Well said Observer.
Apologies. A "protected trust deed" was used which is significantly different to being "bankrupt". Thanks for pointing out.
I've just looked at the Sunday Herald again and it doesn't make clear that Mr Dornan would have been placed on the board of the body running Culture and Leisure as a Council nominee (like Grant Thoms was on the Board of the GHA before he was thrown off!) as the Council had floated off Culture and Leisure as a faux charity (as they did with housing) to attract investment.
Given that essentially he would have been asked to take the job (at no personal profit) I think that someone, either at the Council, or more realistically at Culture and Leisure, should have told him the specific requirements of serving on the board of a charity.
They obviously didn't. Which is a great pity.
"Dornan now earns a basic salary of £15,800, plus £16,146 as a director of the SECC."
From the Sunday Herald
I suspect the question is going to be was he a director of SECC whilst he was insolvent?
He only ceased to be insolvent in December 2007.
Nope, it looks like he was made director in may 2007.
If he remained the candidate he could have ridden it out. Having money difficulties is a dreadful pressure on anyone these days. A lot in the constituency could easily relate to that.
Hopefully David Kerr will now be candidate and the campaign then starts again. I think he is the candidate Labour fears.
You can be a director of a company even although you have granted a trust deed which is still current.
Problem is that you can't be a charity trustee.
Basically, companies legislation and other UK Government legislation before the Scottish Parliament was set up really forgot about Scottish trust deeds.
In comes the Scottish Parliament - the lawyers knew about these things - and took the view that they should sometimes be treated the same as a bankruptcy, e.g. in relation to charities.
Don't buy the SNP heid-yins did him in theory - if they did Salmond wouldn't have appointed Kerr as a special advisor - he would have held out. The fact he has been appointed (or is due to be appointed) might cause a problem or two, I think.
if bankrupts are innapropriate candidates then jackson carlaw should be stripped of his seat immediately
Bit of pedantry: it was actually 17-12. Aileen McLeod didn't stand.
Scottish Trust Deeds is an alternative to bankruptcy or sequestration. Under Scottish Law, you may qualify for protected Trust Deeds Scotland which is a legally binding agreement that provides Scottish residents with a way to repay their debts based on what they can afford. If you qualify, you could have up to 90% of your debts written off and pay the remainder in 36 affordable monthly installments, leaving you totally debt free.
Post a Comment