MSP rejected by voters lands top job... with SNP
New post just months after £60k pay-off
A FORMER Nationalist MSP has been handed a top spin doctor job by Nicola Sturgeon – months after being given a £61,000 taxpayer-funded payoff when rejected by voters.
Stewart Maxwell, who lost out to the Tories in the Eastwood constituency in East Renfrewshire last May, now has a lucrative publicly funded role as special adviser to the First Minister.
It comes only months after he received a £60,685 ‘resettlement grant’ for losing his MSP job.
He is now part of a squad of 13 special advisers – costing nearly £1million each year – who give political briefings and policy advice to Miss Sturgeon and her ministers.
The Scottish Government refused to say how much Mr Maxwell is being paid but those in the role receive salaries of up to £84,000.
John O’Connell, chief executive of the Taxpayers’ Alliance, said: ‘The role of an MSP is not a job for life so these payments seem a bit strange, particularly to those who have lost their seats, where MSPs voted out by their constituents are awarded a taxpayer-funded pay package.
‘When hard-pressed families are struggling and every department is having to make necessary savings, a system which makes these payments should be challenged and reviewed. Money spent on these grants is money not spent on nurses and school teachers.’
Mr Maxwell was first elected as an MSP for West Scotland in 2003 and served until last May, when he stood in Eastwood, the constituency then held by Labour’s Ken Macintosh, but came second to Scottish Conservative deputy leader Jackson Carlaw.
He also failed to secure a place via the regional list – he was second on the SNP billing for West Scotland.
Every MSP who retired before last May’s election or was booted out of office received a ‘golden goodbye’ payment of up to £60,684 each.
The payouts were made after 90 days following the election to ensure no former MSP returned to a job within the Scottish parliament’s pension scheme in that period.
Mr Maxwell confirmed that he began his role as a special adviser at the start of last week. Since losing his job as an MSP he has regularly posted comments on social media about playing golf at the prestigious Gleneagles course, renovating his home and watching daytime TV.
Scottish parliament rules state than any MSP defeated in an election receives a one-off payment starting at £30,342 and rising up to a maximum of £60,684. Because of his long service, Mr Maxwell was entitled to the maximum payout.
It is estimated that the total cost of pay-offs to the 49 MSPs who left their jobs at, or after, the election would have been £2.14million.
Those entitled included ex- Labour MSP Lesley Brennan, who entered Holyrood in January 2016 after the resignation of Richard Baker and served as an MSP for 70 days. She was still eligible for a £30,342 grant.
The SNP was embroiled in controversy over ‘golden goodbye’ payments last year when the Scottish Daily Mail revealed that Michael Russell received an £11,000 resettlement grant when he was sacked as Education Secretary in November 2014 – only to be rehired as Brexit Minister less than two years later.
The 13 special advisers receive salaries starting at £40,000, rising to £84,000. The cost of the team before Mr Maxwell joined was £895,135.
Special advisers are paid for by the Government but are not civil servants because they do not need to retain political neutrality.
The Scottish Government said: ‘The latest appointment has brought the number of advisers to 13. The estimated cost of the current complement of special advisers remains lower in real terms than in 2006/07.’
The Scottish parliament said: ‘The terms for resettlement grants for MSPs are set out in the Scottish Parliamentary Pensions Act (2009).’
‘Payments seem a bit strange’