Depute Leader of Edinburgh Council calls for 'immediate resignation' of Lewis Ritchie

Former SNP councillor Ritchie has been charged with sexual offences and indecent communications.

Depute leader of the council has called for the "immediate resignation" of Cllr Lewis Ritchie

The depute leader of Edinburgh City Council has called for the “immediate resignation” of former high-flying SNP councillor Lewis Ritchie after he was charged with a string of alleged sexual offences and indecent communications.

Labour’s Cammy Day said the allegations were “extremely serious” and called on Cllr Ritchie to resign “if true”.

The Evening News broke the news last night that Cllr Ritchie, who sits as an independent councillor on the council, had been arrested and charged by police investigating complaints over offences which allegedly took place between April 2016 and October 2019.

Lewis Ritchie was charged with an alleged string of sexual offences and indecent communications.

The councillor quit the SNP in 2018 following allegations of sexual misconduct at the party’s conference in 2017, and was suspended by the party following an alleged physical altercation at the same event.

The incidents are alleged to have taken place in the Leith area of Edinburgh between April 2016 and October 2019 and in the Kelvinbridge area of Glasgow in October 2017.

Cllr Ritchie was released by police and will appear at Edinburgh Sheriff Court at a later date.

Cllr Day said: “These allegations and charges are extremely serious.

“If true, then I would expect an immediate resignation from councillor Ritchie and I would be very concerned for the victims involved.”

Cllr Ritchie is a keen boxer and distance runner and a former chairman of the Royal Air Forces Association for Edinburgh, Lothian and the Borders, as well as being an army reservist.

The 36-year-old also runs the It’s All Good cafe in Easter Road, and has been married for six years and has a young child.

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