Lord provost criticised over £8k expenses

Glasgow’s lord provost has been urged to resign after it emerged she has claimed £8,000 in expenses for clothes, shoes and beauty products.

Eva Bolander spent £1,150 on 23 pairs of shoes and £435 for seven blazers between May 2017 and August 2019, the Daily Record reported.

She also claimed up to £992 for 14 dresses, £665 for five coats, £374.50 for six jackets and £152 for underwear.

The SNP councillor also claimed for money spent on her appearance including £751 for 10 haircuts, £479 for 20 nail treatments and £66 on make-up.

Scottish Labour have branded the spending “grotesque” and called on her to repay the money and step down.

Glasgow Labour MSP James Kelly said: “While services for homeless people across Glasgow are being cut, the SNP lord provost has been touring the city in a grotesque spending spree at the taxpayers’ expense.

“In just one trip to John Lewis she spent more on herself than what a worker being paid the national minimum wage earns in a whole week.

“Eva Bolander should pay back the money and resign.”

The lord provost also claimed £358 for a pair of spectacles and £240 on two hats. Labour MSP Monica Lennon tweeted that the spending would have funded 72 school clothing grants, which are £110 for a child from a low-income family.

A Glasgow City Council spokesman said: “The national committee that oversees councillors’ pay recognises that the requirement to represent their city at hundreds of events means lord provosts often incur personal expenses.”