Councillor's electoral law claims

A South Uist councillor has claimed the election returning officer for the Western Isles constituency has breached election rules.

Council chief executive Malcolm Burr is the senior official legally responsible for ensuring the general election is run fair and correctly within the islands.

Councillor Ronnie Mackinnon has demanded an inquiry, alleging Mr Burr attended a meeting "which broke every law in the electoral book.”

The contentious meeting, about ferry services, was held at the offices of Storas Uibhist in Daliburgh and attended by the SNP candidate for the Western Isles, Angus Brendan MacNeil.

Also present was Scottish Goverment transport minister, Derek MacKay and the local MSP, Alasdair Allan. Council representatives, including chief executive Malcolm Burr and leader Angus Campbell were also there.

Mr MacKinnon, who has been prominent in the campaign to improve ferry services for South Uist, was not invited.

A Comhairle spokesman said the representatives were invited by the Scottish Government and community groups.

The council stresses it was not a SNP meeting and council representatives were invited by “proper process” and were unaware of who else would be attend.

Mr Mackinnon said he phoned Transport Scotland in Edinburgh to ask why he had not been invited and whether he could attend.

He said: "I was told that the meeting was being organised by Councillor Donald Manford, leader of the SNP group on Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, and that I should contact the SNP office in Stornoway for an invitation.

“I immediately contacted the chief executive of the Comhairle and relayed that conversation to him.

“At that point, he could have been in no doubt that the meeting was a party political stunt."

The invitation to the council had come from Transport Scotland, a Scottish Government agency, and Mr MacKinnon maintains the chief executive - who is also the returning officer for the constituency - told him he was "surprised" to learn of Councillor Manford's role as organiser.

Mr MacKinnon said: "This was a party political event in the interests of Mr MacNeil who has hitherto shown extraordinarily little interest in the issue of ferry services from Lochboisdale.

“It is totally inappropriate for the returning officer, or indeed the council, to participate in a meeting which involves one election candidate but to which others have not been invited.

He said: "This was a clumsy stitch-up which deserves to backfire. The people of South Uist know very well who has been working for their interests and who has been working against them.

“A love-in during the election campaign, organised by councillor Manford and excluding people who are not SNP supporters, tells us a lot about how their network operates.

Labour candidate Alasdair Morrison has written to both Mr Burr and Mr Francis to express his concerns about their participation in the meeting.

A Comhairle spokesman said: “The meeting was not organised by the SNP, but by Scottish Government.

“The Comhairle was invited to attend this and other meetings in Uist by the civil servant with responsibility for island issues.

“Who else was invited was entirely up to Scottish Government and the community groups involved.

“The Comhairle had no knowledge of other attendees, and who had or had not been invited.

“The Comhairle was invited by a proper process to attend the meeting.

“The Comhairle would be happy to assist councillor Mackinnon in pursuing the advice which he received, which is not consistent with the terms of the invitation to the Comhairle’s leader and officers.

The council pointed out the meeting was also attended by the Comhairle leader Angus Campbell, who is not an SNP councillor.

Councillor claims breach of electoral law, demands inquiry

17 April 2015