Seven councillors have sensationally departed the North Lanarkshire SNP group after they were subjected to disciplinary matters.
They had been accused of bringing the party into disrepute and were disciplined by the SNP group after backing an amendment to a motion put to a full meeting of North Lanarkshire Council by the group's leader Tracy Carragher.
Councillors Paul Di Mascio (Airdrie South) and David Crichton (Motherwell West) were expelled from the group, while councillors Greg Lennon (Gartcosh, Glenboig and Moodiesburn), Gerry Brennan (Motherwell North), Barry McCluskey (Thorniewood), and Beth Baudo (Mossend & Holytown) were all suspended.
A seventh member, Cameron McManus (Murdostoun), was also due to be subject to a disciplinary hearing, but took unwell.
An SNP source told Lanarkshire Live: “Tracy Carragher put the councillors up for disciplinary proceedings. She expelled two and suspended four, with the hearing of another postponed. All seven have now left the SNP group."
The seven were among eight councillors - the other was Danish Ashraf - who had recently written a joint letter to the SNP National Secretary Lorna Finn about the scandal surrounding former council leader Jordan Linden, and group leader Tracy Carragher’s alleged failure to investigate complaints made by one member.
Linden was forced to resign as council leader last July following accusations by a teenager that he had groped and sexually assaulted him at a party in Dundee in 2019. He quit the local authority and his party earlier this year after multiple allegations of sexual harassment.
“A councillor came forward and alleged that Jordan Linden had made advances of a sexual nature towards him," the source continued."
Party officials claimed last month they can’t now investigate the claims about Linden as he is no longer a member.
The source claims that councillors got wind that Tracy Carragher would be bringing a motion removing Greg Lennon from council committee groups at the full meeting of North Lanarkshire Council on March 30. It is understood that the rest then informed the SNP group leader that, if she went ahead, in solidarity with Greg Lennon they would all resign from committees they were sitting on.
“They made clear their intention to resign two days before the meeting, which would create 27 vacancies across the council’s committees,” the source added. “One member wrote to Tracy Carragher asking her not to submit the motion, indicating that it would bring the party’s reputation into question, but she went ahead anyway.
"The councillors were only looking for openness and she’s made them out to be the bad guys.”
Councillor David Crichton put forward an amendment that was seconded by Paul Di Mascio, that would have given a further seven-day window for the information on the resignations from the committees.
The source said: “The other councillors were giving Tracy Carragher the opportunity to do the right thing and take all of them out of the committees. They were then all put up for disciplinaries for bringing forward and voting for an amendment to the motion, with the accusation that the councillors were bringing the party into disrepute.”
The group disciplinary meetings took place on Tuesday night, with councillors Crichton and Di Mascio expelled, and the others who voted for the amendment given written warnings and six-month suspensions.
Councillor Danish Ashraf abstained from the vote and no sanctions were imposed on him.
An SNP spokesperson said: “The SNP Group undertook a disciplinary process against members only in relation to them voting contrary to a Group decision at a meeting of the Full Council on Thursday, March 30 2023.
“It is regrettable that these councillors have refused to accept a sanction from their peers. The SNP will continue to provide an effective opposition to the Tory/Labour administration of North Lanarkshire Council.”
At the council elections in May last year the SNP in North Lanarkshire took 36 of the 77 seats up for grabs. They lost control of the council after the Jordan Linden scandal came to light with Airdrie councillors Michael and Sophia Coyle leaving the party, and in the space of a year the group have now lost 10 SNP councillors.
*Don't miss the latest headlines from around Lanarkshire. Sign up to our newsletters here.
And did you know Lanarkshire Live had its own app? Download yours for free here.
