An Aberdeenshire Labour candidate ditched by party bosses in the general election campaign thought he’d been cleared of any wrong-doing – only to find out he’s still suspended four months on.
Andy Brown, from Banchory, has been dutifully paying his membership fees to Labour since he was caught up in a row over alleged “pro-Russia” posts on social media, which he denies being a part of.
He shared a link to state media outlet Russia Today doubting Vladimir Putin’s regime’s role in the 2018 Salisbury poisonings.
The Press and Journal exclusively revealed Mr Brown had been “administratively suspended” in June by Labour so an investigation could take place before the election.
In a bizarre twist of events, Mr Brown claims Scottish Labour’s Glasgow HQ told him there was no record of him being suspended when he called up.
The Aberdeenshire North and Moray East candidate told us he was “relieved” to be in the all-clear after months of uncertainty.
But Scottish Labour confirmed Mr Brown’s suspension remains in place and a probe into his actions had not finished.
The party stressed this had been made clear to Mr Brown in writing.
‘It’s a shambles’
The longtime Aberdeenshire Labour supporter, who first signed up in 1997, says he’s baffled – and angry.
“The left hand doesn’t know what the right hand’s doing,” he said.
“They said there was no suspension. It’s a shambles.
“I’m just shocked at the way this is carrying on. It just shows how chaotic and disorganised they are.”
He added: “There’s been no support. It’s not satisfactory.”
Mr Brown only found out he had been ditched as a candidate in June by reading the news the following day.
Labour stressed multiple attempts were made to contact Mr Brown at the time.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves boasted on Sky News Labour had “taken swift” action by dropping him.
Mr Brown insists he would never share any pro-Russia content and has no idea how links appeared on his Facebook.
“There’s nothing to investigate. It’s just nonsense,” he said.
“It’s made up. I didn’t do any of that, as I stressed umpteen times.”
‘I’m not a vindictive person’
Given his anger over being left in endless limbo, is there any chance Mr Brown will now leave Labour altogether?
Not at all, he says.
In fact, Mr Brown will even keep paying his membership dues as he keeps up the fight.
“I’m not a vindictive person,” he told The Press and Journal.
Since candidate nominations were closed when the scandal broke, Mr Brown still appeared for Labour on the ballot in July.
Ironically, his vote share drastically increased as support for Sir Keir’s party surged across Scotland.
Mr Brown picked up more than 10% of the vote, a huge improvement compared to 2019.
Would he ever run again if he clears his name, or has this saga scarred him?
“I wouldn’t stand again,” he said. “I’m 62 now anyway, so I’m getting too old.”
But he then added: “If somebody wanted me to, I’d maybe think about it.”
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