SNP members launch bid to re-run Falkirk West selection contest
The Falkirk West selection battle has been at the centre of controversy after one of the four candidates – former SNP policy convener Toni Giuliano – was removed from the ballot at the last minute after an allegation of misconduct.
The contest was won by councillor Gary Bouse, but a petition has now been launched among local members with a view to having the contest re-run.
One local SNP member, who asked not to be named, said there was 'no question that this vote must be re-run – with or without Toni Giugliano' due to the impact that removing him will have had on how people voted.
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'If Toni's name wasn't on the ballot to begin with, members may have chosen to coalesce behind a totally different candidate,' they said. 'The result lacks any credibility.
'The party needs to understand it has got this badly wrong. This issue is not going away and we will continue to gather signatures until democracy has been restored.'
The petition calling for the contest to be re-run garnered 50 signatures on the day it opened, The National was told.
'At this pace, we'll surpass the total number of votes cast for the declared candidate,' the member added.
'Where did my vote go? That's what I want to know. I only cast a first-preference vote for a candidate who the party decided to remove after a shabby backroom deal was done.'
Toni Giugliano was suspended from the Falkirk West selection contestAllegations made in The Herald on Tuesday said that former health secretary Michael Matheson, who currently holds the Falkirk West seat, had only agreed to step aside if Giugliano was blocked from replacing him. The SNP called the claims 'nonsense'.
The text of the petition to re-run the contest to replace Matheson reads: 'Petition: Re-run the SNP Falkirk West selection contest.
'The SNP is built on democracy and the active participation of its members. That principle was undermined when a vetted candidate was removed from the Falkirk selection ballot just days before the result.
'This petition does not favour any individual candidate – it is about upholding the integrity of the democratic rights of members.'
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The National was told that the plan is to share the results with the SNP once the petition has accrued a significant number of members in Falkirk West – where this paper understands there are around 750 SNP members.
No details of the number of votes involved in the selection ballot have been made public.
Announcing his own bid for the Falkirk West nomination, Bouse said he would not have run against Matheson for the selection 'under any circumstances'.
He went on: 'I was part of the 2024 Westminster selection process and that left its own scars. I never give up on what I believe in, and I joined the SNP because of my belief in independence.
'This gets stronger by the day when I see what the Labour party as the last hope for the Union are doing to our people and our country.'
After winning the SNP nomination in Falkirk West, Bouse said he wanted to thank 'the other candidates for the positive campaigns they ran in this process; I wish them well for the future'.
He added: 'It is now time to get to work, to build a strong team across the constituency and do the hard work to win this seat for the SNP.'
The SNP did not respond to a request for comment on the petition to re-run the contest.
Previously, in response to allegations of a 'stitch up' because the complaint against Giugliano had not been detailed in public, the party said: 'Any internal disciplinary matters are dealt with in a manner that is confidential to the parties concerned.'
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