SNP councillor who ‘forgot he owned a hotel’
‘He is a complete liability’
ONE of the SNP’s most senior council election candidates has been reported to a standards watchdog after failing to declare he owned a hotel.
Frank Ross, who wants to be the next leader of City of Edinburgh Council, did not mention he owns the Silverfjord Hotel in Kingussie, Inverness-shire, on his register of interests.
He was yesterday reported to the Commissioner for Ethical Standards in Public Life in Scotland.
But Nicola Sturgeon defended Mr Ross, who leads the SNP group in Edinburgh, which currently shares power with Labour. She said: ‘I know he is a person with local interests very much at heart and I know he will fight very hard in this campaign.’
Asked if she considered him a liability, she said: ‘No, I don’t.’
Mr Ross hit the headlines this month after suggesting proUnion parties had called themselves ‘Scottish’ as part of a branding exercise to win votes.
He was not present at the SNP’s local elections manifesto launch in Edinburgh yesterday, although a spokesman said that was due to a family illness.
Under the Standards Commission in Scotland’s code of conduct, councillors are required to declare their financial interests.
Public records show Mr Ross, deputy leader at City of Edinburgh Council, and his family set up Silverfjord Kingussie Ltd in February 2015. He was listed as a director, alongside his wife and their son and daughter. He owns 82 per cent of the shares in the firm. The company later acquired the Silverfjord for £160,000.
Mr Ross, who is standing in Corstorphine/Murrayfield, initially said he could not remember if he had updated his register of interests with details of the 11-bedroom hotel, before later saying he would be submitting fresh paperwork.
Speaking to the Herald, he said: ‘It should be on the regis- ter. I suppose somebody’s going to make a complaint. The fact is it’s not recorded and I need to address that now.’
Lothians Tory MSP Miles Briggs yesterday confirmed he had complained to the Commissioner for Ethical Standards in Public Life in Scotland. He said: ‘It is important this matter is investigated immediately, as it will be of grave concern to those residents in Corstorphine and Murrayfield being asked to vote for Mr Ross. Many will wonder if they can trust him, given his failure to declare this interest.’
Edinburgh South Labour MP Ian Murray said: ‘Frank Ross is turning into a complete liability for the SNP. After questioning the Scottishness of Labour voters, it now emerges he has failed to register that he owns a hotel in the Highlands.
‘The SNP might be arrogantly taking the elections for granted, but it takes a special level of arrogance to think you can run Scotland’s capital while you are running a hotel in a completely different part of the country.’
A City of Edinburgh Council spokesman said: ‘Councillor Ross has informed us that he is updating his register of interests and will be submitting the relevant paperwork.’