Expert invited before elections committee

Published on Thursday 8 November 2007 00:23

THE expert who compiled a scathing report on the Scottish election shambles in May is to be invited to give evidence to a Holyrood committee, it was agreed yesterday.

Ron Gould is likely to give evidence by video-link from Ottawa, Canada.

The committee will also take evidence from the Electoral Commission, which commissioned Mr Gould's report.

But the local government committee is at present planning to focus only on the local government aspect of the elections.

It deferred reaching a decision on whether or not to ask Holyrood bosses to extend its remit to enable it to examine the parliamentary elections.

The moves were agreed after a short debate in the committee in which one SNP MSP called for Douglas Alexander, the former Scottish secretary, to be among those called to give evidence.

Kenny Gibson, the SNP MSP for Cunninghame North, told the committee that Alex Salmond, the First Minister, had said he wanted a full parliamentary debate on the affair, and the committee should wait for that debate before its investigation. "I also believe we should invite the minister Douglas Alexander to come along, given his responsibility for the debacle that happened last May," he said.

The committee's moves follow last month's critical report by Mr Gould on the May elections for the Scottish Parliament and local councils.

This found that voters were treated as an "afterthought" in the planning and organisation of the elections.

But Mr Gould's report was overtaken by a political row over who was the main target of his criticism and to what extent ministers were to blame.

Much of the debate by the committee was over the timing of its inquiry.