‘I was close to dying in the last attack’ Harassment, abuse and assaults ... the perils facing new councillors
Many of Scotland’s new intake of elected members will be entering their role full of enthusiasm – but a number of ex-councillors, who have chosen not to run again, have spoken to The Herald on Sunday on the pitfalls of the job
AS Scotland’s newly-elected councillors prepare to take up their seats, some will be looking forward to getting stuck into local politics for the first time – but others are leaving office with a bitter taste in their mouths, having decided against standing due to abuse and threats they received while in office.
While it is fairly common for councillors to be harassed by anonymous comments online, much of the abuse has been more serious, with some being threatened in the street and others even having their homes targeted.
Graeme Campbell, who had been a Conservative councillor in Avondale and Stonehouse, South Lanarkshire, for 15 years, quit politics after his house was attacked three times in three years.
He said that the attacks were because of his work against organised crime in his elected role.“There’s no way I was going to continue to support a community and put myself and my family’s lives at risk,” said Mr Campbell
“I came very, very close to dying in the last attack and it’s not worth it.”
The first attack came in May 2019, when his wife’s car was petrol bombed in a fire which spread to his house.
In August of the next year, two cars outside his home were vandalised with a corrosive substance and a window was smashed. In the third attack, which took place in June 2021, two cars were set alight and the fire again spread to the home, destroying much of it.
Standing down
MR Campbell has now left the area and is thinking of moving abroad. He is still living in temporary accommodation almost a year after the last attack. He is just one of many councillors who stood down last week. In Glasgow – Scotland’s largest local authority – 26 councillors bowed out from a total of 84. In Edinburgh, 27 of 63 headed off while in Aberdeen, 15 out of 45 did not seek re-election. Some of those leaving were elected for the first time in 2017.
Gordon Cowie, who represented Buckie in Moray for 10 years, is another councillor who chose to stand down.
The independent decided to call it quits after he received hate mail and his family was harassed in public. Some of the incidents are currently being investigated by the police. “My family was getting verbal abuse and I just felt I couldn’t put them through it again for another five years,” said Mr Cowie.
“My daughter works locally in a supermarket and she was getting snide comments in her work … My wife’s also had it up the town.
“I can take it, I put myself up there to take it, but when it comes to family, enough’s enough.”
Not only has the harassment been in person, but both Mr Cowie and Mr Campbell have received abuse online.
Mr Campbell said: “I think what’s changed the most over the years is social media. Social media has made it horrendous. People just seem to think they can say what they like and [there’s] no recourse whatsoever.”
‘Affair’ accusation
ONE person posted on a Facebook page that he was having an affair with a woman he had only met once for 10 minutes in public. Another wrote that they “wished somebody would come and kill that Graeme Campbell and his entire family. It’d be one Tory family less than the area”.
Mr Campbell added: “That’s the sort of stuff that’s going on in a fairly affluent area like Strathaven.”
“People hide behind names,” said Mr Cowie. “I would prefer for them to come to my face and say things.”
The comments had taken an emotional toll on him. “I was hurt by it all.”
Both agreed that the problem had become worse in recent times.
“The first five years were no problem whatsoever,” said Mr Cowie. “It just seems to be these last three or four years that it’s been terrible.”
He believed that the reason for the abuse was “councils being short of finance and you’re cutting services”, adding: “I don’t think people really understand that the council has to balance the books too.”
Mr Campbell said: “The abuse we’ve had ... the worst of it’s been over the last five years without a doubt.”
He added: “Scotland’s changed since the independence referendum [in 2014].”
Both men are leaving office with a sour taste in their mouths.
Mr Cowie added: “I’m very disappointed with how it’s gone because unfortunately there’s no election in my ward this time. Only three people came forward. I’m disappointed that I did what I did in regards with letting the public down, but they’ll have to understand that they have let me down big time.”
According to Mr Campbell, “the whole country should be ashamed of themselves
What’s changed the most over the years
is social media – it has made the job horrendous. People seem to think they can say what they like and there’s no recourse
for the way they treat elected members”. However, other councillors have decided to continue despite facing harassment.
Pippa Hadley, a Green councillor for Badenoch and Strathspey in the Highlands, was the victim of a vicious verbal attack last year.
Her attacker, who has since been given a custodial sentence, said that she “should be shot against a wall”.
The man was at large for 20 days before he was caught. Ms Hadley said: “It made me really scared because I’m a local councillor, people know where I live.”
Determination
THE attack made her doubly determined to do her work, but she acknowledged that it could put others off. “If this had happened to one of our senior counsellors, who was slightly less confident, they may have just disappeared into their house and never come out again.”
Ms Hadley also said that she received support from Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie. But this was something which Mr Cowie could not rely on. “I went into the council to help my local constituents and I was an independent councillor so I had no party to answer to, but I had no party to help me in times like this,” he added.
“I was on my own. I do think that councillors need a bit more protection.”
For the new intake of councillors, Cosla is working with Police Scotland to develop safety briefings.
Some 2,548 people put themselves forward to stand for 1,227 seats on Scotland’s 32 councils on Thursday.
Those who were elected are now tasked with decisions on the country’s state schools, hiring teachers, and providing social work services for the elderly and vulnerable.
They make decisions on multi-millionpound planning applications, funding libraries, issuing licences for taxis and pubs, collecting rubbish, and maintaining roads and parks.
Despite it being an important role, the work is poorly paid.
£18k basic salary
THE current salary for an ordinary councillor is £18,604, though committee conveners, council leaders and opposition group leaders receive higher remuneration.
Cosla published a survey in January which found councillors work on average full-time equivalent hours on their councillor duties (38.6 hours per week), resulting in an equivalent hourly rate lower than the real living wage of £9.90. Senior councillors in receipt of special responsibility allowances worked on average 50.3 hours per week.
Mr Campbell said that the job is “not worth it”, adding: “And the fact that you get paid less than 20 grand a year for it as well. It’s utterly ridiculous.”
A Scottish Government spokesman said a review of councillors’ pay and conditions would be carried out “at pace” after the elections next month.
“Both the Scottish Government and Cosla recognise the need for a review of councillor pay and that this would be an important step towards supporting an increase in the diversity of Scotland’s local elected members,” he added.
“We have jointly committed to undertaking an independent review of councillor remuneration.
“This review will be undertaken at pace to examine the terms and conditions of the councillor role, in particular the current rate of pay.”
The spokesman added: “The review will commence as soon as possible after the local government elections to ensure that terms and conditions truly reflect the responsibilities of the 21st-century councillor.”