The Ethical Standards Commission today suspended South Lanarkshire Council Leader Joe Fagan for two months after being found to have breached two counts of the Councillor’s Code of Conduct in April 2021 by leaking confidential documents from a Cross-party Working Group.
Councillor John Ross, Leader of the SNP Group commenting on today’s events said:
“I am pleased that the Standards Commission has seen fit to sanction Joe Fagan. His self-interested actions have brought this council into disrepute.
“Cllr Fagan initially claimed the leak was not politically motivated but, when questioned, admitted he wanted to make sure the SNP did not get a majority in the Holyrood elections. The Panel agreed that he was clearly politically motivated, at least in part.
“Unbelievably, Cllr Fagan will be replaced as Council Leader during his suspension by Depute Council Leader Gerry Convery who himself was censured by the Commission in 2019 when he shouted ‘Sieg Heil’ in a council meeting and again in 2020 when he failed to declare a personal interest in an item of council business.
“I am now calling on Joe Fagan to resign. If he won’t jump, Anas Sarwar should push him.”
Cllr Cal Johnston-Dempsey 