Health board ruling forces Whyte to give up MSP bid

leading Edinburgh Tory councillor Iain Whyte has been forced to give up his bid to become an MSP after a ruling by Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon.

• Iain Whyte cannot be on the board of a public body and also stand as an MSP

Councillor Whyte knew he would have to step down as a member of Lothian health board for the period of the election in order to stand for the Scottish Parliament, but believed he would be given back his post afterwards, as happened at the last Holyrood elections four years ago.

However, Ms Sturgeon has banned automatic reappointments, meaning Cllr Whyte's place would be advertised and he would have to re-apply with no guarantee he would even be shortlisted.

He has decided to pull out of the election rather than sacrifice his 15,000-a-year position on the health board which still has two and a half years to run.

Cllr Whyte said: "Because the health board is a public body which falls under the remit of the Scottish Parliament, you cannot be a board member and an MSP.

"In previous elections the health board chairman would write to the Health Minister saying someone was standing for election and the Health Minister would write back saying it was okay for them to resign and if unsuccessful they would be reappointed. That's what happened with (Labour] Health Minister Andy Kerr in 2007. I'm greatly disappointed, but it's not a decision in my hands."

NHS Lothian chairman Charles Winstanley said Ms Sturgeon had reminded board chairmen at their monthly meeting of the need for candidates to resign, but said nothing about re-appointments.

He said: "She reminded us of the need to resign anyone who was a candidate, but that was it. The bit everyone was silent on was the return plans."

A spokesman for Ms Sturgeon said the end to automatic reappointments was a matter of fairness following the introduction of direct elections to some health boards. The spokesman said: "If an elected person stood down it would not be possible to reappoint them automatically, so it was decided the same rule should apply to all health board members."

Cllr Whyte was chosen as Tory candidate for the Glasgow seat of Maryhill & Springburn.

His place will be taken by tax adviser Stephanie Murray.

PRINGLE PAYS BACK THOUSANDS IN EXPENSES

CITY MSP Mike Pringle has paid back thousands of pounds in expenses after he billed the taxpayer for delivering 35,000 newsletters.

The Edinburgh South Liberal Democrat, who is running for re-election in May, agreed to pay back 2830 after breaching Scottish Parliament rules.

Mr Pringle admitted he had made an "expensive mistake" when he failed to mention that Mike Pringle Reports Back Spring 2011 Edition had been paid for with public money.

As previously revealed in the Evening News, he also used the publicly-funded newsletter - which can be used to chart yearly achievements and local news only - to list his achievements over the past four years, which is banned under Holyrood rules.

Mr Pringle denied the annual report was promoting him as a Lib Dem and that there was no party logo on the leaflet.

A parliament spokesman said Mr Pringle volunteered to pay back the costs as soon as it was brought to his attention.