Ousted Nat gets post as adviser to First Minister

AN ousted Nationalist MP has been handed a top adviser job by Nicola Sturgeon, weeks after losing his Westminster seat.

Callum McCaig, who lost out to the Tories in Aberdeen South, has a publicly funded role as a special adviser to the First Minister.

He was ousted in June after serving two years as a Nationalist MP.

The team of advisers employed by Miss Sturgeon costs the taxpayer nearly £1million a year.

The growing group, which also includes former MSP Stewart Maxwell, brief Miss Sturgeon and ministers on political issues and policy.

It is not known how much Mr McCaig will be paid in his role, but previous figures show advisers salaries start at £40,000 and can be as high as £84,000.

Mr McCaig posted on Twitter yesterday that he had a ‘good first week in the new job’, saying he will be focusing on finance and local government.

Last night, a Labour source said: ‘Having been rejected by voters, the public will be surprised to learn that Callum McCaig is now on the First Minister’s payroll – along with Stewart Maxwell, who was also rejected by voters.

‘His new responsibilities of finance and local government are incredibly important. Now that he is no longer an MP and freed from the party’s rules that ban dissent, hopefully he will tell Nicola Sturgeon she must stop passing on Tory austerity.

‘The SNP knows it faces an uphill struggle to get its budget passed if it continues with its pro-austerity agenda, so Callum will certainly have his work cut out.’

Following the June election, Miss Sturgeon attacked the UK Government when Tory Ian Duncan was given a peerage after he lost out by only 21 votes to Pete Wishart in Perth and North Perthshire.

She described his appointment as a junior minister in the Scotland Office as an ‘absolute abomination’ and tweeted: ‘This should not be allowed. Rejected by voters – but installed in government anyway.’

Last year, the cost of special advisers was more than £890,000.

A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘The First Minister appoints special advisers to support the work of the Government in delivering better outcomes for Scotland. The latest appointment has brought the number to 14.’