Lib Dems and SNP have let the community down - Ian Murray

Newly elected councillor Louise Spence is off to Dubai

I can only imagine that the newly elected Liberal Democrat councillor for the Colinton/Fairmilehead by election just two weeks ago had some version of the above list on her mind in the weeks leading up to polling day.

As you probably will have heard by now, the new councillor resigned last Thursday just days after winning the by-election in the southwest of the city, citing a change in personal circumstances. That change, according to local media reports, is that she is moving to Dubai.

Yes, you read that right. While asking for residents to put their trust in her, the Lib Dem candidate was preparing to sell her house and move thousands of miles away from the community she was hoping to represent. Shockingly, according to reports in the local press, her house sale seems to have already been underway well before polling day.

During the by election, the Lib Dems relentlessly pushed their candidate’s ‘local’ credentials, with the word ‘local’ featuring a dizzying number of times on their leaflets. Quite how the Lib Dems could brazenly keep delivering such a message to voters in the full knowledge their candidate would not take up her seat is beyond my comprehension..

The Lib Dems have real questions to answer. Many residents are angry and hurt, feeling that their votes have been taken for granted. A lot of people feel like they’ve been deceived. Many are angry at the prospect of having to go to the polls again in January.

And it gets worse. The SNP councillor for the same ward also resigned just days after the by election to take up a lucrative position as an adviser to the SNP’s administration in Holyrood, putting his party before the community. This leaves Colinton and Fairmilehead with just one out of three councillors.

Their actions have wasted a staggering £80,000 of public money. That money could have gone towards fixing the roads, local services or social care provision. Many people are asking if the Lib Dems will pay this money back to the Council. It’s difficult to say they don’t have a point.

And while this enormous mess has been unfolding, the real issues facing the community have been left to unattended.

Serving in elected office is a privilege. It is not a commitment that should be treated casually. The Lib Dems and the SNP would do well to remember that as we approach another ward by election in the new year. I fear voter anger may mean they don’t cast their vote.

Ian Murray MP, for Edinburgh South and Secretary of State for Scotland