A Highland councillor who has resigned after 18 years claims she has been the victim of “serious hate incidents”.
Maxine Smith, an independent councillor for Cromarty Firth, announced she was resigning for personal reasons in a heartful social media post.
The former SNP councillor has hit out at “haters,” claiming she has been “trolled on social media time and time again by people with opposing views”.
She adds that politicians are “hung, drawn and quartered by social media” and that “this has become a frightening world to live in”.
Ms Smith, who initially intended to step down in 2027, has now announced she will leave her role“imminently”.
Highland councillor quits as she hits social media ‘trolls’
Ms Smith has worked for the Easter Ross area for 33 years, firstly as a community volunteer and for the past 18 years as councillor.
She was elected as an SNP Councillor in 2007 and served her community for three five-year terms.
In 2022, she was re-elected as an Independent Councillor, having resigned from the Scottish National Party due to local internal divisions.
In her Facebook post, the councillor highlights abolishing the ‘Cinderella Curfew’ in Inverness nightclubs and creating a lunch club for the elderly in Invergordon social club after the Covid pandemic as some of the “bigger aspects” of her legacy.
She also takes pride in persuading Scottish Water to spend £250,000 on renewing the sewage system on Clyde Street in Invergordon to prevent raw sewage entering people’s homes and flooding them.
And she also highlights playing a role in “enabling hundreds of new houses to be built in the local area” and working with colleagues to build a new academy in Alness.
‘This has become a frightening world to live in’
But Ms Smith also writes: “There have been some extremely stressful and worrying moments during my time as councillor and in the last few years there have been serious hate incidents where I’ve found myself at the centre of false allegations that were headlined in the press.”
In 2024, she was accused of faking disabled parking Blue Badges so drivers of tour buses she owns could use restricted spaces, however, the case was dropped.
She adds: “I’ve been trolled on social media time and time again by people with opposing views and I’ve been the victim of bullying and threats from people, mostly for things I was innocent of.
“Nevertheless, I was going to stay until the end of my term in May 2027, but now, due to personal reasons, I feel I must stand down.
Ms Smith continues: I’m not an angel I’m just a woman and any time we make mistakes as a politician we are hung, drawn and quartered by social media.
“This has become a frightening world to live in and I just want to be an ordinary human being.
“I’m sure I’ll continue to be far less than perfect in the future but at least I will not have the weight of being a councillor on my shoulders if I make a mistake.”
On social media, numerous constituents thanked the councillor for her years of service.
Conversation