Scottish Liberal Democrats remove job advert offering less than living wage

The job was at least £1,400 a year under the living wage

The Scottish Liberal Democrats have been forced to withdraw a job advert that was offering below the living wage after The Scotsman highlighted the issue.

West Edinburgh Liberal Democrats had advertised a role as Constituency Organiser for Edinburgh West, with the full-time position set to pay just £22,000 a year, well below the living wage.

The area is represented by party leader, Alex Cole-Hamilton, in Holyrood and by Christine Jardine at the House of Commons.

Alex Cole-Hamilton, the leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats

The description of the job said the role would “support our two parliamentarians, councillors, local party executive, members and volunteers as we build towards the coming general election”.

The Scottish Liberal Democrats, who are listed as a Living Wage Employer, should have offered at least £23,400 to match the living wage of £12 per hour for 37.5 hours a week.

However, if the contract was for a 40-day working week, the salary was almost £3,000 below the £24,960 required to be in line with the living wage.

A party spokesperson said: "The details in this advert were incorrect and it has been withdrawn. Scottish Liberal Democrats are committed to paying all staff a living wage."

The Scottish Greens’ economy spokesperson, Maggie Chapman, said: “If a political party is found to be paying below the Living Wage, then their commitment to reducing poverty must be questioned.

"If they don’t care enough about their own employees to pay them above poverty wages, then why would they care about anyone else’s situation?”

Earlier this week, the Daily Record revealed SNP MP Anne McLaughlin had offered £10.81 an hour for a role as an admin assistant last week, equivalent to an annual salary of £22,500.

The Scotsman has also previously revealed Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar’s family firm continues to fail to pay the living wage despite the leader pledging for that practice to end during the leadership contest in 2017.

Mr Sarwar does not personally hold shares, but his wife and his two children benefit financially from the success of the cash and carry business.