MSP inquiry dropped

No further action will be taken against a Scottish Liberal Democrat MSP over his Holyrood campaign spending last year.

Alex Cole- Hamilton, 39, was accused of breaching the legal spending cap and filing incorrectelection returns in the Holyrood vote in June 2016.

He won the Edinburgh West seat by 2,960 votes, ahead of SNP rival Toni Giugliano in last year’s Scottish Parliament elections.

He was reported to prosecutors in June this year.

The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service ( COPFS) said that after “careful consideration”, there would be “no proceedings at this time”.

Mr Cole-Hamilton, who was his par t y’s general election campaign director, said he was glad the matter was closed.