The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
SNP replacements to be hand-picked after probe
SNP chiefs will hand-pick the candidates who are vying to replace two MPs who have stood down amid police probes.
Natalie McGarry has confirmed she will not fight to retain her Glasgow East constituency in June’s general election after she and Edinburgh West representative Michelle Thomson were ditched by the party at the weekend.
Both lost the SNP whip after they were placed at the centre of separate police probes.
It can now be revealed the SNP’s ruling National Executive Committee decided on Saturday it would choose who will stand to replace the duo, as well as the candidates for the three constituencies in Scotland the party does not currently hold.
This goes against those who are calling for the seats to be contested as allwomen shortlists, following the precedent set for Holyrood constituencies where sitting MSPs were standing down at last year’s election. A Nationalist source said: “Perhaps some of the people who mooted themselves (for selection) would have been undesirable.
“They are not in the party’s standing orders but, in terms of the SNP’s commitment to all-women shortlists, this is quite an extraordinary blow to gender balance.”
An SNP spokesman responded: “The SNP will select candidates in the five constituencies currently not represented by SNP MPs by the end of the week, following consultation with local members.”
Ms McGarry, 35, was charged with fraud offences last September following allegations of missing independence campaigning donations.
She announced last week she is pregnant after it was reported she fainted in the Commons tearoom.
Ms Thomson, 52, who has already confirmed she will not run as an independent candidate, was suspended from the SNP parliamentary group after finding herself at the centre of inquiries into alleged irregularities relating to property transactions.
Her firms were accused of preying on vulnerable people by buying homes at knockdown prices from families who were struggling to pay their mortgages.
Police are no longer investigating her.