ABOVE: Tracy Carragher is accused of downplaying allegations about her former colleague
byLynsey BewsScotland political correspondentAngus CochraneSenior political journalist, and David Wallace LockhartScotland political correspondent
BBC Scotland is reporting that the leader of the SNP group on North Lanarkshire Council has been suspended from the party and dropped as an election candidate.
Tracy Carragher had been criticised for her handling of complaints about former council leader Jordan Linden, who last week was convicted of sexually assaulting young men.
She had been due to stand as a regional list candidate in Central Scotland and Lothians West in next month’s election.
An SNP spokesperson said Carragher had been suspended and dropped as a candidate “in light of ongoing allegations regarding the handling of matters within the North Lanarkshire Council SNP group in relation to Jordan Linden”.
They added: “We take this issue seriously and the voices of complainants must always be heard.”
Carragher has also been removed as leader of the council’s SNP group.
Shortly before Carragher’s suspension was announced, First Minister John Swinney was asked if he had confidence in Carragher.
The SNP leader replied that the candidates the party had selected “will go forward for election”.
Linden rose to become the leader of North Lanarkshire Council in 2022
Carragher is also facing a council motion in which she is accused of having ignored or downplayed complaints about Linden.
The motion, due to be debated on Thursday, calls for Carragher’s immediate resignation alongside that of her colleague Fiona Fotheringham.
North Lanarkshire Council – which has been run by a minority Labour administration since 2022 – will also vote on whether to suspend activity with the Scottish Youth Parliament, where Linden previously served as chairman.
Carragher said she would fully cooperate with the party’s investigation and that she was confident that due process would “allow the facts to be established”.
She added, “It is troubling that, since the verdict, much of the focus has shifted away from the individual convicted of these serious offences.
“Responsibility for these crimes rests solely with the person who committed them.”
Carragher is one of several Holyrood candidates to have been withdrawn.
Labour’s Glasgow Southside hopeful, Mohammed Ameen, was dropped earlier on Wednesday after he was charged with fraud. It emerged on Tuesday that Fife councillor Stefan Hoggan, who stepped down as the SNP’s candidate in North East Fife, has been accused of sex offences.
Green candidate Guy Ingerson was suspended this week due to a complaint from a party rival, while Reform lost several Holyrood hopefuls in the days after their unveiling.