Nationalists 'in meltdown' as second candidate forced to quit by-election race

Published on Sunday 12 July 2009 21:50

THE SNP's bid to win the forthcoming Glasgow North East by-election descended into chaos yesterday when a second candidate was forced to quit.

James Dornan, who was only selected last week, stood down after revelations that he may have breached Scots charity law by acting as a trustee of a Glasgow council sports and culture trust while he was effectively bankrupt.

Labour accused the SNP of being in "complete, utter and total meltdown".

The SNP had turned to Cllr Dornan after the party's first choice, Grant Thoms, another Glasgow city councillor, was forced to step aside after having questionable internet postings exposed.

Cllr Dornan defeated former BBC reporter David Kerr to become the by-election candidate, although SNP critics claimed that Mr Kerr was in fact the favourite of party leaders.

No date has been set for the by-election, though Labour is believed to be delaying the poll until November to prevent it falling during the summer holidays. It has chosen Willie Bain as its candidate.

The vacancy arose after Commons Speaker Michael Martin was forced to quit as an MP after being embroiled in the Westminster expenses scandal. Although the Speaker is independent, the constituency is nominally a safe Labour seat.

It emerged yesterday that Cllr Dornan, the SNP group leader on Glasgow City Council, had signed his assets over to an insolvency practitioner in October 2004 and remained insolvent until December 2007.

But upon becoming a councillor in May 2007 he was appointed an unpaid trustee of the council's charitable arm, Culture & Sport Glasgow, potentially breaching the law barring an undischarged bankrupt from being a charity trustee.

Cllr Dornan said yesterday said he had acted in "good faith" but had decided to step down as the SNP's parliamentary candidate. He said: "In doing so, I want to make clear that I am not ashamed of having experienced financial difficulties in the past. Many people know only too well how that feels.

"I am not prepared to allow this issue to overshadow the by-election or to be exploited by Labour as a distraction from the real issues of the campaign. Labour has let the people of Glasgow and Scotland down.

"This by-election is a chance for people to focus on the issues that matter and to elect an MP who will fight their corner."

The SNP said it would move "immediately" to select a new candidate.

But Paul Martin, Labour MSP for Glasgow Springburn, said: "The SNP campaign here is in complete, utter and total meltdown.

"On Sunday afternoon they were delivering leaflets saying James Dornan was their candidate. Now they have no credibility left. To lose one candidate is a crisis, but the SNP have lost three in a row. It is beyond words.

"They are treating Glasgow with contempt and taking people for granted."