Political posters still hanging around six weeks after election

Published on Wednesday 15 June 2011 15:03

POLITICAL campaign posters still remain on lampposts across the city six weeks after the election - despite the fact they have now been banned.

Council bosses today said they will remove any posters brought to their attention and charge the political parties for the costs incurred.

Parties should have removed their campaign posters by midnight May 7, following the Scottish Parliament election on May 5. But the Evening News has found several posters remaining in places including Calder Road in Sighthill, Tollcross and Holyrood Park Drive.

The council agreed to ban election posters at a meeting earlier this month, following a motion put forward by Tory councillor Gordon Buchan.

The motion split councillors' opinion, with many fearing a poster ban could impact on voter turnout in future elections. However, a narrow majority voted for an outright ban, following in the footsteps of other Scottish cities including Glasgow and Dundee.

One of the election posters still remaining on Calder Road is for Tory MSP David McLetchie.

His party colleague Councillor Buchan said the poster would be removed now the party had been made aware of it. He said: "When I put in the motion, this was an issue which affected all parties.

"People accidentally miss them now and then when it comes to taking them down and they are left for some time.

"That's part of the reason why I put the motion up - to stop this happening again.

He added: "The parties are made aware of their responsibilities for removing them and if the council has to remove them then it's only fair that they are charged for that."

Green councillor and MSP Alison Johnstone, who is a supporter of election posters as she believes they play a key role in the democratic process, said: "This is breathtaking hypocrisy from the Conservatives.

"More than a month after the polls closed, you can tell who's serious about this issue - any party that still has placards up while trying to ban them for next time is all mouth and no trousers."