A LABOUR grandee appointed to an influential local government role in Inverclyde is the landlord of the council’s former leader, who is contesting domestic abuse charges, the Sunday National can reveal.
Stephen McCabe, who stepped down as Inverclyde Council leader after appearing in court charged with assault and threatening and abusive behaviour, lives at a detached house in Kilmacolm owned by Lord Haughey. McCabe denies the criminal charges against him.
Lord Haughey was in June announced as the chair of the Greenock Town Board, which will oversee the spend of a £20 million funding pot.
According to his register of interests in 2017, McCabe lived and jointly owned the home at 10 Victoria Gardens in the Inverclyde village and his address at his recent hearing at Greenock Sheriff Court was given as being in the same street.
The house was sold in 2019 for £240,000 to Edward Stopps, a private individual and then in 2022, the property was sold by Stopps to Stevens Property Development Co Limited, over which the Labour peer is listed by Companies House as having “significant influence or control”.
Lord Haughey told the Sunday National the deal was struck to help McCabe keep the house – which he would otherwise have been unable to afford.
He said: “[McCabe] actually gave up equity so his kid could stay in that house, right.
“So I got the deal of the century, no that’s a bit heavy but right, I got it for less than it was worth but it had to be what he could only afford to pay as a mortgage.”
However, the Sunday National can reveal the property is not listed on the Scottish Landlord Register – despite McCabe’s register of interests showing he is a tenant in Ward 1, where the property is located.
It is not known how much McCabe is charged in rent.
Lord Haughey said that the property was not registered with the Scottish Government because he was waiting on certification for works previously carried out.
McCabe had not declared his relationship with Lord Haughey, despite the Labour peer’s appointment to chair the town board for Greenock.
In this role, Lord Haughey (above) will convene the group tasked with spending £20m in levelling up funding for Greenock pledged by the former government.
The announcement of Lord Haughey’s appointment was made at a meeting of the Inverclyde Alliance Board on June 17 this year. McCabe was absent from the meeting.
Also on the board was former Inverclyde MP Ronnie Cowan before he lost his seat in July.
He told the Sunday National that board members were given a “choice of one” candidate for the position.
Cowan (below) added: “It was a nomination process of one. It was never a case that we discussed it that much.”
Lord Haughey said that it was a “shock to the system” to be asked to chair the board, a decision he said did not involve McCabe.
The Labour peer said: “They didn’t want to pick a local chair and someone was picking their pet projects, so they saw me as completely independent.”
He added that “no one else wanted to be chairman”.
Lord Haughey has donated £42,935 to the Scottish Labour since 2015, according to figures available via the Electoral Commission – but donated more than £1m between 2003 and 2010, according to the BBC.
McCabe stepped down as the leader of Inverclyde Council on November 15 after a hearing at Greenock Sheriff Court where he appeared on domestic abuse charges. He pleaded not guilty and is due to stand trial on February 10 with an intermediate date fixed for January 14.
He remains an Inverclyde councillor in the meantime.
McCabe was approached for comment.
