Today, at a meeting of South Lanarkshire Council, the Scottish National Party moved a vote of no confidence in the Council Leader, Joe Fagan. This was voted down; with 26 SNP members voting for, 1 Green member abstaining, and 34 Labour, Liberal Democrat, Conservative and independent members voting against.
Fagan was suspended as a Councillor in June by a hearing of the Standards Commission for Scotland. The Commission found that he had breached the confidentiality of an internal budget working group by misleadingly leaking screenshots of classified documents for political gain at the 2021 Scottish Parliament elections. He was suspended for 2 months.
At the meeting, a report was presented to Councillors simply noting the details of the suspension. SNP Group Leader John Ross proposed an amendment to add “This council is moved to agree a vote of no confidence in the present leader of the council, Councillor Joe Fagan” If the amendment had succeeded, it would have resulted in a new Council Leader being appointed.
Commenting on today’s events, Cllr Ross said:
“I am disappointed that the Labour-Lib Dem coalition have once again used Tory votes to cling onto power and protect their disgraced leader. Joe Fagan has shown disregard for ethical standards in public life. He is unfit to lead this Council.”
Following the publication of the Commission’s judgement, Cllr Fagan was quoted in the press saying “My conscience is clear… I believe the Standards framework in Scotland should go after real wrongdoing”.
The Commission responded to this statement, noting that he “appeared to indicate that he did not understand that there are legitimate reasons as to why certain information is deemed confidential for a period of time and why it should not be disclosed during that period.” The Panel also warned further breaches would be treated “with the utmost seriousness”.
At the same meeting, the Provost of South Lanarkshire, Cllr Margaret Cooper, was questioned by SNP Depute Leader Maureen Chalmers on why — despite having been one of the original complainers against Joe Fagan in 2021 — she had attempted to withdraw her complaint and provide a character reference for him. Cllr Chalmers shared details of a Freedom of Information request that showed Cllr Cooper had withdrawn her complaint in November 2022, mere months after securing her position as Provost in a deal with Labour and the Lib Dems.
During Cllr Fagan’s suspension, the duties of Council Leader are being filled by his depute, Gerry Convery. Cllr Convery has himself been censured twice by the Standards Commission; once in 2019 for exclaiming “Sieg Heil” during a council meeting, and again in 2020 for failing to declare a personal interest in a Council decision.
Cllr Cal Johnston-Dempsey 