Edinburgh council elections 2022: SNP ditches chief whip as candidate

The chief whip of the SNP's city council group has been dumped as a candidate for next month's local elections.

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George Gordon, a party activist for 40 years and councillor for Forth ward since 2017, was defeated in a selection contest by the branch organiser Stuart Dobbin.

Councillor Gordon appealed against the decision, claiming irregularities in the way the selection was run, but his appeal was rejected by the party.

He said: "I'm extremely disappointed. There were irregularities with the system but that was not upheld by the national secretary despite the evidence."

He also questioned why a challenge to his candidacy was allowed since he is disabled and the party was seeking to promote disabled representatives along with women and ethnic minorities.

"Within SNP guidance we're trying to get a diverse range of people and the protected characteristics are females, minorities and disabled. They went on the assumption the local areas, like the city association, would protect the disabled people that were currently there and encourage other disabled people forward. They haven't done that in Edinburgh and the current list of candidates does not meet the quota for disabled people.”

Councillor Gordon said he had spent years building up relationships with groups and organisations.

George Gordon has been an SNP activist for 40 years and a councillor since 2017

Having been one of the council's representatives on the NHS Lothian board, he has now been appointed as a board member in his own right and said he now planned to concentrate on that role.

New candidate Mr Dobbin has worked in senior management in Asia and across the world.

SNP group leader Adam McVey said because the party’s existing group on the council had a higher proportion of disabled people than required, legislation did not allow a special mechanism in the selection process in relation to disabilities, so there was no quota as such.

But he said the party had monitored the representation of disabled people in the candidate group and did have a target. "We do have candidates who are disabled as well as it being a gender-balanced group and for the first time having a real reflection of society in the nationalities and ethnic diversity."

But he declined to say whether the disabled target had been met, arguing it was a matter for individuals to disclose.

Councillor Gordon’s fellow Forth SNP councillor Ellie Bird is standing down at the election. In her place, the party will be fielding Carrie Gooch, a retired airline pilot and keen beekeeper who has previously worked as a social worker helping vulnerable offenders out of crime.

Meanwhile, a former chair of Merchiston community council is to be the SNP candidate in Morningside.

Mairianna Clyde, an Open University lecturer who has been a community councillor for nearly 20 years, said she had always been an SNP supporter. “This area has really missed out not having an SNP councillor and if I’m lucky enough to be elected, I’ll work extremely hard for my community to increase local EV charging points, tackle rat-running and help our older tenements become cheaper to heat with retrofit.”

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