A ‘dithering’ John Swinney has finally sacked an SNP candidate linked to the Jordan Linden sex scandal after days of the party defending her.
Tracy Carragher was suspended by SNP HQ after the First Minister was given fresh information by the media about her handling of the serial predator.
The move, hours before Holyrood nominations closed at 4pm, automatically halted her bid to become a Central Scotland list MSP in May.
She also stopped being the SNP opposition leader on North Lanarkshire Council. Opposition parties said Mr Swinney had been ‘dragged kicking and screaming’ into action.
Linden, 30, once an SNP rising star, was last week found guilty of ten offences against young men, including five sexual assaults, between 2011 and 2021. He was briefly leader of North Lanarkshire in 2022 before he was forced to quit over allegations of sexual misconduct, when Ms Carragher was his deputy.
In leaked recordings, she urged fellow SNP councillors to support him at the time. She was also a defence witness at his trial at Falkirk Sheriff Court.
Tracy Carragher was SNP group leader on North Lanarkshire Council and was on the SNP regional list for Central Scotland and Lothians West but has been removed from both positions
After Linden was convicted and put on the sex offenders register, she vehemently denied failing to protect his victims.
In an SNP statement, she said: ‘Had any councillor asked me to step in to protect them from another member of the SNP group, I would have done so. I am clear that they did not.’
But Sky News yesterday presented Mr Swinney with material undermining that claim. ‘That’s new material to me, so I need to go and have a look at that,’ he said.
Shortly afterwards, the SNP announced: ‘In light of ongoing allegations regarding the handling of matters within the North Lanarkshire Council SNP group in relation to Jordan Linden, the national secretary has suspended Councillor Carragher pending an investigation.
‘This means she will no longer be an SNP candidate in the forthcoming elections or leader of the SNP group on the council.
‘We take this issue seriously and the voices of complainants must always be heard.’
Scottish Tory candidate Meghan Gallacher said: ‘This decision should never have taken John Swinney so long to reach.
‘His dithering over the past week has been an insult to this vile predator’s victims, who have been appalled that someone who stood by Linden was deemed appropriate to stand for parliament by the SNP. Only at the eleventh hour before candidate nominations close and he was given even more information has John Swinney finally acted.
‘But he was already aware of the damning secret recordings that proved Tracy Carragher was at pains to protect Jordan Linden and railed against anyone raising concerns about him.
‘This whole case smacks of SNP cover-up and secrecy. Swinney must come clean about what he knew and when about Linden and guarantee the review into the SNP’s broken internal complaints system won’t end up being a sham and a stitch-up.’
Jordan Linden was convicted after a trial at Falkirk Sheriff Court in March
Scottish Labour deputy leader Dame Jackie Baillie said: ‘John Swinney has been dragged kicking and screaming into suspending Tracy Carragher – but only after days of defending the indefensible.
‘He cannot hide from the long list of unanswered questions that remain.
‘The SNP’s handling of this scandal has been shameful from start to finish – from dismissing victims to lying to journalists to defending Tracy Carragher for days.’
Earlier this week, Mr Swinney refused to say if his aides knew about the Linden sex scandal following claims it was covered up by SNP politicians.
He also said he was ‘satisfied’ that the SNP complaints procedure had followed ‘due process’.
The First Minister ordered a review of the SNP’s complaints process, but it emerged he ignored a plea for better safeguarding from Linden’s former colleagues six months ago.
Mr Swinney finally said sorry to the victims last Saturday.
The SNP said it ‘welcomes the verdict against Mr Linden’.
