Jim Devine, MP will now never face the Livingston electorate at a General Election after being deselected by the Labour Party's NEC sub Committee which is investigating MP's expense claims.
Clearly they were less convinced than the local Labour Party who backed him last week by his explanations of thousands of pounds being paid for shelving, which has yet to be found, to Mr Devine's pub landlord. He also paid over £2000 to an electrician he met in a pub in London and who carried out rewiring work to his London flat. The invoice submitted for this work had an incorrect VAT number and other details were found to be false.
Whether Mr Devine will continue to the next election, or stand down and cause another by-election, which Labour would surely lose, is yet to be seen.
LibDig This!
Urk... don't encourage them by using the "Star Chamber" moniker, Caron. Nevertheless, Devine does seem like a shifty customer, and pub shelving just isn't a parliamentary purchase.
ReplyDeleteAh so finally labour have got round to assessing the man's excuses. This is the first I've heard of it so thanks Caron.
ReplyDeleteAs I understand it, Jim is free to stand at the 2014 election so he may well face the electorate again.
ReplyDeleteIndeed, given the party faithful backed him only a few days ago despite knowing all about the dodgy claims, I wouldn't be too surprised if he'll be challenging the SNP incumbent in 5 years time.