Councillor suspended for one month after complaining about Isle of Bute flower beds on social media

A councillor has been suspended after complaining on social media about flower beds on the Isle of Bute.

Independent councillor Liz McCabe (Isle of Bute) was handed a month-long suspension after being found to have breached the councillor’s code of conduct.

The former depute provost of Argyll and Bute Council was deemed to have committed the breach by the Standards Commission Scotland at a hearing on Thursday, October 23.

It relates to a social media post made by Cllr McCabe in May 2024, when she replied to a social media post regarding flowerbeds.

She wrote: “Nothing has been done since Joe retired in November. It is absolutely shocking. That’s what happens when someone who has no experience gets the job and doesn’t have a clue.”

The Standards Commission panel reported that it was “not in dispute” that Joe was Cllr McCabe’s husband.

Councillor Liz McCabe Argyll and Bute Council

Cllr McCabe was depute provost of Argyll and Bute from May 2022 to April 2024. She said that she stood by her comments.

The Standards Commission report said: “The panel noted that Councillor McCabe’s position was that she had not intended her comments to be disrespectful and that they were directed towards the council rather than any individual.

“The panel noted, however, that Councillor McCabe referred, in her post, to the person who replaced the retired postholder as having ‘no experience’ or ‘clue’.

“The panel was satisfied that, given this, it would be reasonable for anyone viewing the post to consider it was directed at the individual postholder who was now in the role, rather than the council itself.”

It was deemed that the new holder of the post was readily identifiable, as five postholders were responsible for the work referenced, with only one based on Bute.

The report continued: “The panel was of the view that by saying the individual had no experience or clue, Councillor McCabe was inferring they should not have got the job. The panel considered this was inherently disrespectful to the officer in question.

“The panel was further of the view that Councillor McCabe implied, in the post, that the officer was responsible for the ‘absolutely shocking’ state of the flowerbeds and the alleged failure to do anything about this.

“The panel was therefore satisfied that it would be reasonable for anyone reading the post to perceive it as amounting to public criticism of both the individual officer’s performance and capability.

“The panel concluded, therefore, that Councillor McCabe had breached the provisions in the code that require councillors to be respectful and to refrain from criticising their performance, conduct or capability in public.”

It added: “The panel nevertheless acknowledged, in mitigation, that the conduct in question was essentially limited to the one social media post that had been removed quickly and, as such, was limited in duration.

“The panel further noted that Councillor McCabe had co-operated with the investigative and hearing processes and had not been the subject of any previous finding of a previous contravention of the code. It also acknowledged Councillor McCabe’s contribution to her town and public life in general.

“The panel was pleased to note Councillor McCabe deleted the post shortly after posting it and accepted it was the result of her being frustrated and angry at the time. In the circumstances and context, the panel concluded, on balance, that a full suspension of one month was the appropriate sanction.”

Cllr McCabe said: “My comment was on the Isle of Bute page on a post regarding the state of the town and the flowerbeds: ‘What is happening to our town?’. I replied to a comment from a friend on the post.

“I immediately realised I had been on my Liz McCabe – Independent for Bute page and removed the post. Had it been on my own personal page I would have left the comment. Our town is in a terrible state.

“[A relative] of the person I mentioned was sent the post by a ‘colleague’ and [they] complained to the council, then ethical standards committee, saying [they] wanted me reprimanded.

“I stand by everything I said. The town is an absolute shambles and nothing is being done about it.”