Purcell starts on road to redemption

Published on Saturday 3 July 2010 12:10

THE former leader of Scotland's largest local authority is to return to public life following his high-profile resignation earlier this year.

Steven Purcell, who quit as leader of Glasgow City Council citing exhaustion, has been brought onboard by the Stewart & McKenna Foundation, which works on humanitarian projects around the world.

Three weeks after his resignation on 2 March, the 37-year-old, who was hailed as a future Labour first minister, admitted struggling with depression and said he had "dabbled" in cocaine, which had left him open to potential blackmail. A police inquiry is still under way.

But Purcell, who had treatment at Castle Craig in the Borders and spent time in Dublin, has now returned to Glasgow and will work for the foundation, which operates in Kenya, Burundi, Malawi and Moldova.

Stephen McKenna and Allan Stewart, who founded their property group in 2004, said they hoped to give Purcell a second chance after reading he wanted to become involved in charity work. McKenna said: "We read that he wanted to give something back (following his resignation] - and we immediately contacted him. But he wasn't ready to go back to work. So we decided to leave it until he got back to Glasgow.

"We're not risking the foundation by taking him on - we put 90 per cent of the money into it ourselves and we're not stupid. Steven's made a mistake and he understands that.

"I think it's fantastic that he will be working with us. He's said he wanted to work on Scottish projects.

"It will be great for our foundation, for Steven, and for Scotland."

Purcell said he was pleased with the arrangement, but declined to expand on what his role might be.

He said: "It's up to them if they want to say anything. "But I've been speaking to a number of charities about doing voluntary work and I've been pleased with the response."

In April, police were called in to investigate drug and blackmail allegations surrounding Purcell, although no charges have ever been brought.

However, critics of Purcell have claimed the appointment by McKenna and Stewart said it strengthens their case for a full investigation into the former leader's business dealings.

In 2008, the Stewart & McKenna Group made a major deal with Glasgow City Council to hand over land needed for Commonwealth residences, in exchange for a separate piece of land to build a 25 million development and 1.7m in cash.

James Dornan, the SNP's group leader at the council, said: "The fact that Steven Purcell is going to work for two businessmen that previously benefited from Glasgow City Council while Steven was leader of Glasgow City Council raises concerns, and only strengthens the case for having an independent investigation that I have been continually asking for.

"It would also appear that the Stewart and McKenna Foundation is taking a risk hiring Steven Purcell for this prestigious international charity role before the police inquiry has been completed."

McKenna said his firm did the deal with the council to assist it with the games development, adding that he had never met Purcell during the process.

He said: "We did a deal because we owned the area they wanted for the Commonwealth Games site. We were literally ready to put the shovel in the ground to start building but stopped in our tracks to assist the council.

"We hoped they'd think of us as the good guys. We knew of Steven Purcell but never sat down and talked to him."

Purcell has said he has no intention of returning to front-line politics, however one source at Glasgow City Council claimed that his appointment to the foundation was the start a political comeback.

They said: "This is all part of Steven's political comeback. The fallout from his scandal is still ongoing, but Steven thinks he's got away with it and is looking ahead already.

"It's his ego, he loves the limelight and misses it. It remains to be seen whether he'll be looking to come back to the chamber or looking to be an MP or MSP, but a lot of the Labour group are still quite angry about the whole affair."