ONE of the SNP’s most senior officials has been criticised in an increasingly bitter row at the top of the party.
National Secretary Angus MacLeod was accused of placing members of the governing National Executive Committee at risk of abuse after he first allowed and then revoked a decision to force James Dornan out of his Glasgow Cathcart seat.
A new rule, passed at the party’s conference last year, means the SNP has an obligation to replace departing MSPs with female candidates.
However, while Dornan initially announced in February that he would not be standing for re-election next year, he changed his mind in July saying the coronavirus crisis had left him with “unfinished business”.
He believed that under the party’s rules, this meant he was able to stand for selection in the seat he’s represented for the last 10 years.
However, on Thursday, the NEC decided that the new rules did apply and that the constituency could only be represented by a woman.
That provoked a furious response from party members, including a number of senior MPs and MSPs. Following that outcry, MacLeod U-turned. He said on Saturday that it was his “conclusion and determination as national secretary that the decision was unconstitutional”.
He added: “The conditions whereby an all-women shortlist can be considered by NEC, as mandated by conference, are now no longer met in that Glasgow Cathcart is now not a constituency ‘where the incumbent SNP MSP is standing down’ in terms of Resolution 16 from Annual Conference 2019.”
In an email sent hours after that decision, and seen by a number of NEC members, Rhiannon Spear, the party’s woman’s convenor, asked MacLeod for a “personal explanation as to why you have been incapable of doing your job as national secretary”.
Spear said: “Myself and my colleagues on the NEC should never be in a position where we have to vote on anything in front of us if it is constitutionally dubious.”
She said that members of the NEC had “to make tough decisions and bear the consequences”.
Spear added: “I have been on the receiving end of considerable personal and targeted criticism for this decision as is to be expected.
“As women’s convenor, I would not be doing my job if I did not advocate for all-women shortlists and specifically the BAME women who have already come forward in Glasgow ready to contest Cathcart.
“As you know, I have been advocating strongly that Cathcart should be an all-women BAME seat.
“I will continue to support and encourage the women who have approached me through this process despite this U-turn.
“However, I do not expect to be put in a position where these decisions will be reneged on advice sought after the decision has been taken.
“I share great sympathy with James on this point given the lack of clarity we have received. It is your job to give the NEC absolute assurance that the votes before us are constitutionally sound, you have had four weeks to seek clarity on this matter.
“I am therefore losing confidence in serving as a member of the NEC under a national secretary who cannot give us these assurances.”
Neither Spear or MacLeod responded to The National’s request for a comment. The SNP declined to comment.
Last week, the governing body also backed a controversial change in rules that means any SNP MP looking to head to Holyrood will first have to resign.
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