Our MP elect Christopher McEleny certainly doesn’t lack confidence. In advance of even being selected by his party he is already thinking about how he will spend his two public salaries (Telegraph, 17 December).
His decision to donate his £18,000 Councillor’s salary to local charities is a generous gesture although I would be even more impressed – as I’m sure would his allies in the Inverclyde SSP - if he agreed to donate his £64,000 MP’s salary.
I do find it strange however that Mr McEleny is considering holding two public offices for up to two years by continuing as a Councillor beyond May 2015. Surely the SNP have nothing to fear or lose by having a by-election?
In fact they would have much to gain by giving one of their many new female members in Gourock the opportunity to serve on the Council. Given his party leader’s commitment to 50:50 representation for males and females, surely Mr McEleny wouldn’t want to stand in their way?
He could cite the precedent that when Iain McKenzie was elected as an MP in June 2011 he continued as a Councillor until May 2012. The circumstances then were entirely different as if Labour had lost the by-election we could have lost control of the Council.
What we found when Iain was carrying out a dual mandate was that it placed an additional workload on other Labour Councillors to cover meetings for him. Iain also had to seek permission to be absent from Parliament from party whips to attend crucial meetings of the Council.
If Mr McEleny was to continue as a Councillor while undertaking the duties of an MP this would add to the burden already being borne by his SNP colleagues and other Councillors resulting from the absence of another SNP member due to ill-health, a situation that has been ongoing for a number of years now.
Of course Mr McEleny will not face this moral dilemma if he is not selected as his party’s candidate or in the highly unlikely event that he is not elected as our MP.
"The circumstances then were entirely different as if Labour had lost the by-election we could have lost control of the Council."
ReplyDeleteOf course, Labour losing control of the council is of far more importance than any accusations of double standards.
No double standards. Retaining a Labour led Council was in the interests of the people of Inverclyde. The SNP cannot take control of the Council so a by-election will have no political impact, unless of course they were to lose it. You're not worried about that are you?
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