Jennifer Stewart, an independent councillor for Aberdeen's Hazlehead, Queen's Cross and Countesswells ward, was suspended for four months in August last year after the Standards Commission ruled she had breached the councillors' code of conduct. She has appealed against the sanction in the sheriff court.
Her legal challenge has now been put on hold pending the outcome of a judicial review by Glasgow councillor Fiona Higgins. Higgins alleges the Standards Commission is denying her a fair hearing in a separate complaint.
Stewart maintains that she was blocked from providing witnesses and was repeatedly interrupted by the panel during her seven-hour Standards Commission hearing on 5 August last year.
"Fiona's judicial review could have major implications for all 1227 councillors in Scotland," Stewart told the Sunday Mail. "My own hearing left me questioning the fairness of the process. I was unable to call witnesses or present evidence I considered important and felt repeatedly interrupted. This case will show whether the Standards Commission remains fit for purpose."
Disrespect finding
The commission found that Stewart had been "disrespectful" to Aberdeen lord provost David Cameron and had personally attacked him in council meetings between December 2022 and October 2023. She has always stood by her comments.
Higgins's court action
Fiona Higgins is separately facing a standards hearing over claims that she showed disrespect to former Glasgow City Council finance boss Martin Booth. In 2024, she accused Booth of "cynically and wilfully misleading" the public about up to 450 local teacher cuts. Booth then lodged a complaint with the Ethical Standards Commissioner, saying her remarks breached the councillors' code of conduct.
Higgins is now asking the Court of Session to rule on the case, arguing that she is being prevented from presenting important evidence. Her legal action is funded by millionaire musician Paul McManus, drummer with Scottish rock band Gun. McManus is also backing Moira Salmond, widow of the late former first minister Alex Salmond, in her legal action against the Scottish Government over its handling of harassment claims against him.
Higgins has previously warned that the "weaponising" of codes of conduct is creating a "chilling effect" that leaves many councillors too afraid to raise serious matters of public interest.
Free speech concerns
The case follows a landmark free speech ruling in 2016, when former Argyll and Bute councillor Mike Breslin was cleared of code of conduct charges after "robustly" criticising council officials. That decision recognised his rights to political expression.
A decade on, a series of similar cases - including the complaints against Higgins, Stewart and others - have seen elected councillors hauled before the standards watchdog for criticising powerful local officials, prompting fears of a culture of censorship in town halls across Scotland.
Among those is Loch Lomond councillor Sid Perrie, 75, who is neurodivergent. He was removed from the national park board and suspended for six months without pay after complaints of "bullying" senior executives. The action followed what were described as "discourteous" emails in which he challenged park bosses over a "conflict of interest" in Flamingo Land's controversial bid to build a holiday resort in Balloch. Perrie was too unwell to attend his hearing and mount a defence, and his team has appealed the move.
