Gail Sheridan to stand as Solidarity candidate in Glasgow council election

GAIL Sheridan, the wife of recently paroled former MSP Tommy Sheridan, has revealed she is to stand for election to Glasgow City Council.

Mr Sheridan, released from prison in January after serving a year of his three-year sentence for perjury, said his wife Gail will stand for his Solidarity party on an anti-cuts programme.

Mrs Sheridan hopes to represent the Cardonald and Craigton ward where the couple live with their daughter Gabrielle.

Gail has already stood for election in her local area and came within only a few hundred votes of winning a seat under the first-past-the-post system in 2003.

She also considered standing for the Scottish Parliament last May but decided instead to devote her time to caring for her daughter following Mr Sheridan’s imprisonment.

Mrs Sheridan said: “It may not be the done thing at competitive elections but I have worked alongside some of the local councillors here for many years and respect their work and commitment. I hope to join them in fighting for the area and not replace them.

“Under the new electoral system, four councillors are elected. I hope to be one of them.

“I’ve never served on the council but I will learn fast, and Tommy was a councillor for eleven years so he can also teach me the basics.

“I will be a hard-working and caring councillor. I hope the people of Cardonald and Craigton will give me a chance.”

Mr Sheridan was councillor for the neighbouring ward of Pollok between 1992 and 2003.

He said: “Usually it is Gail supporting my election campaigns but this time I will be very proud to support hers.

“Everyone who knows Gail likes her and admires her down-to-earth honesty and compassion. She is very active in the local community and would make a first-class local councillor.

“She will fight tooth and nail for Cardonald and Craigton and oppose the proposed cuts in the council budget.

“Although a Solidarity candidate, Gail is her own person and will always stand up for her principles.”

Mrs Sheridan has been a steadfast supporter of her husband who has vowed to continue the fight to clear his name after being found guilty of lying under oath during his successful defamation action against the News of the World in 2006.

He was awarded £200,000 in damages after winning the civil case but a jury at the High Court in Glasgow found him guilty of lying about the now-defunct tabloid’s claims that he was an adulterer who visited a swingers’ club.

Mr Sheridan has not yet been paid the money as the newspaper’s owner, News Group, challenged the libel damages award.

The appeal was frozen during Mr Sheridan’s criminal trial and has remained so until police investigations into alleged phone hacking and other practices have concluded.

Meanwhile, it was revealed yesterday that a ninth Glasgow Labour councillor has resigned from the party.

Councillor Ellen Hurcombe, who represents Canal ward, has joined breakaway party Glasgow First. She joins her other former Labour colleagues who resigned after being deselected by the party for the forthcoming elections.