The Liberal Democrat group on Aberdeen City Council yesterday joined calls for the appointment of a new PR chief to be suspended amid concern over his political background.
Takki Sulaiman is due to leave his post as head of communications at crisis-hit Tower Hamlets Council in East London and start in a new £80,000-a-year role in the Granite City early next year.
The main opposition SNP group called for an investigation after it emerged the CV submitted by Mr Sulaiman omitted the fact that he is a former Labour councillor for Haringey.
It is understood that the local authority’s HR department was informed by Mr Sulaiman that he was once a councillor, but several members of the appointments panel have claimed not to have known at the time of his interview.
The omission has prompted concerns over political neutrality in the role which includes responsibilities for external and internal communications as well as marketing.
Liberal Democrat group leader Ian Yuill has now written to council chief executive Angela Scott calling for a probe.
Mr Yuill said: “We have urged the chief executive to freeze the appointment of Mr Sulaiman and to investigate urgently the apparent non-disclosure of relevant information to the appointment panel.
“According to Labour councillor Willie Young, the appointment panel was not told of Mr Sulaiman’s political background or of his active involvement as a Labour Party councillor over a number of years. That is astonishing and hugely worrying.
“The head of communication post, which the Labour Party and their Conservative allies created in the face of opposition from the Liberal Democrats, will clearly be politically sensitive. The person appointed must be politically neutral – and be seen to be politically neutral.”
Labour group secretary Mr Young has accused his opponents of “political opportunism”.
He said: “This is an operational matter, it is a matter for the chief executive.
“Ian Yuill and the Liberal Democrats have a cheek, bearing in mind that they had a place on the panel and gave it up to the SNP. Now they are criticising the process, it is an absolute disgrace.”
A spokeswoman for Aberdeen City Council said the chief executive would respond to the correspondence in due course.