Tory MSP Annie Wells to be suspended from Scottish Parliament after breaching code of conduct

The Scottish Parliament’s standards committee has announced it will exclude Tory MSP Annie Wells for five days after ruling she had breached parliamentary code of conduct in an attempt to gain political advantage.

The Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee unanimously agreed to suspend Wells from all parliamentary and committee meetings after upholding a complaint that she had made advance comment to the press on an unpublished Equalities and Human Rights Committee report on prisoner voting, in order to gain political advantage.

The Glasgow MSP’s comments appeared in the Scottish Daily Mail two days before the report was published, leading SNP MSP Gail Ross to lodge a complaint with the standards commissioner.

Wells’ suspension comes a month after another Tory MSP, Alexander Burnett, was found to have breached the Scottish Parliament code of conduct, for a second time, after failing to declare a registered business interest when submitting written parliamentary questions.

After the second breach of the code, MSPs unanimously agreed to ban Burnett from lodging any written questions for two weeks.

MSPs must endorse the recommendation, which does not include a salary sanction, before it comes into force.

Former SNP MSP Mark McDonald, who now sits as an independent, has just returned from a one month ban that included having his salary withdrawn.

Committee convener Bill Kidd said: “The Committee has considered a complaint from Gail Ross MSP about Annie Wells MSP.

“The complaint is that Annie Wells sought political advantage by making advance public comment on the Equalities and Human Rights Committee’s report on “Prisoner Voting in Scotland”. This Committee is unanimous in the decisions reached on the complaint.”

He added: “I propose that the Committee will recommend in its report that the Parliament excludes Annie Wells MSP from all meetings of the Parliament and all meetings of its Committees for five sitting days.”

The Scottish Conservatives have been approached for comment.