A Scottish Green Party candidate who took a selfie with five others while leafleting – breaking current Covid rules – has insisted the snap took a “split second” while he and colleagues were working in pairs.
Guy Ingerson, who is standing in Aberdeen Central and the North-East Scotland regional list for the Greens, posted the photo online on Saturday while distributing party leaflets in Aberdeen.
Candidates have been told a maximum of four people from two households are permitted to meet up for leafleting, similar to existing rules on social gatherings.
But in the photo he posted online, Mr Ingerson was posing with five other people while out distributing Scottish Greens leaflets.
Mr Ingerson said: “The photos literally took a split-second to do, but I understand completely if people had seen that and thought we had been milling about for ages or were in close contact.
“We took a quick second for a selfie and then cracked on in teams of two.
“I would apologise to people if they looked at that and thought hang on, these people are breaking restrictions. That wasn’t our intention at all.”
He added: “It has been an unusual campaign, but it’s going well, people really resonate with the Green message and people have quite a lot of public trust in the Greens.
“We’re honest, for example with this photo, if we get something wrong or something is taken out of context. We’re quick to put our hands up.”
Late last month, John Swinney of the SNP deleted a photograph he posted of himself and four others handing out SNP leaflets.
Fellow SNP candidate Graeme Dey also offered “unreserved apologies” last month after posing for photos on the first official day of election campaigning.
The photos, which were posted to social media, showed Mr Dey at a gathering including at least eight people.
