SNP candidate slammed over election poster mistake at Dunbeath
The SNP candidate for Caithness, Sutherland and Ross-shire has been taken to task for mistakenly putting up election posters alongside the A9 road at Dunbeath.
A Thurso man, who wishes to be anonymous, sent a formal complaint to SNP candidate Lucy Beattie over a small election placard that he said had been “illegally” attached to a lamppost at the side of the A9 overlooking the village.
The Caithness resident stated in a letter to BEAR Scotland which maintains this stretch of road: “I wish to make a formal complaint against the SNP candidate for Caithness, Sutherland and Ross-shire, Lucy Beattie.
“I allege Lucy Beattie and her campaigners are erecting signs illegally on the A9. [There] shouldn’t be any signs in the trunk road network.”
A correspondence officer with the agency thanked the man for raising the matter and stated: “Transport Scotland has a policy which precludes the placing of election material within the trunk road boundary. This policy has been endorsed by Scottish ministers.
“I have passed your email on to our inspection team to arrange the removal of this sign.”
The local man said: “Transport Scotland have rules in place which are endorsed by ministers that preclude electoral material on trunk roads such as the A9.
“Perhaps the SNP candidate Lucy Beattie can move her signs instead of Bear Scotland doing it for her?”
Ms Beattie accepted that the poster had been put in the “wrong place” and apologised for the mistake. “It was an error of communication from our wider team with local volunteers who placed posters,” she said.
“We are fully aware of the guidance issued by the Highland Council in relation to posters and had communicated that no poster could be placed on a trunk road. Because parts of the A9 trunk road go through villages such as Dunbeath I think what had not been obvious to the well-intentioned volunteer who placed it there that this was not, in fact, allowed.
“As soon as the error was notified my election agent got in touch with the volunteer and asked for the poster to be removed.”
The SNP candidate alerted her election agent, Aidan Strange, so he would be aware of the issue. “We are so sorry for the mistake as we have tried to ensure due process was followed at every stage, but in this instance it wasn't and the error was alerted to our local volunteer as soon as it was known,” she added.
The Highland Election Office stated: “We have contacted the election agent of the candidate in question and requested to comply with the campaign poster policy and if no authorisation has been obtained from the trunk road authorities, to remove the poster.”
Mr Strange said the poster was removed a week ago. “It came down a couple of hours after it went up as soon as we were alerted to it, and we’ve reminded the activists of the guidance provided by the elections team at Highland Council and BEAR Scotland,” he said.