The Scottish government’s former childcare minister Mark McDonald faces suspension from the Holyrood parliament for a month after the public standards watchdog found him responsible for sexual harassment.
McDonald resigned from the Scottish National party in March over his inappropriate behaviour but refused to stand down from parliament, despite senior colleagues, including Nicola Sturgeon, expressing their dismay at his decision.
The Commissioner for Ethical Standards in Public Life concluded that McDonald’s behaviour amounted to sexual harassment, and Holyrood’s standards committee has now recommended that the member for Aberdeen Donside should be suspended from the Scottish parliament without pay for a month. MSPs will vote on the proposed sanctions next week, before recess.
In the complaint to the ethical standards commissioner, McDonald’s former SNP colleague James Dornan claimed the MSP had used his position to harass a female member of his staff. In examining information relating to this complaint, the commissioner was made aware of McDonald’s conduct towards another staff member and decided this was also relevant.
The commissioner concluded that McDonald had “failed to treat one witness with respect, and that his conduct towards her involved sexual harassment and that he also failed to treat a second witness with respect in relation to a financial matter”. This second matter is reported to be a £470 loan from a staff member that he took three weeks to repay.
The commissioner’s conclusions will be published in full later on Thursday, but it has been reported that it finds McDonald guilty of harassment based on the case that sparked his resignation as a minister, involving an inappropriate text message, but clears him of the allegations made by Dornan.
McDonald said he would accept the outcome of the MSPs’ vote next week, but added that he would “continue to represent the interests of my constituents diligently”.
Clare Haughey, the convener of the standards committee, said she wanted to send a “clear signal about the seriousness of Mark McDonald’s conduct”, but also criticised Dornan for disclosing details about his complaint to the media, saying: “Confidentiality requirements have been flouted more than once.”
An internal SNP investigation which reported in March found that McDonald was responsible for persistent and inappropriate behaviour towards women, unwanted attention causing distress and exploiting his position of power.
The Scottish Labour MSP Rhoda Grant said McDonald was “totally unfit” to remain an MSP, and that the proposed sanctions did not go far enough.
“As this report has shown, Mark McDonald’s behaviour has been well below that expected of anyone, let alone an MSP. Mark McDonald has let down his constituents and it is clear to everyone except him that he is totally unfit to represent the people of Donside. It is right that he faces a sanction for his behaviour, but the reality is the proposed action does not go far enough. Anyone with an ounce of decency in his position would do the right thing and immediately resign as an MSP.”
At the beginning of March, the findings of a comprehensive survey of Holyrood staff revealed that one in three women had experienced harassment or sexist behaviour there. Of those who reported sexual harassment, 45% identified an MSP as the perpetrator.
A subsequent report for the parliament’s standards committee recommended all MSPs undergo training on harassment awareness.
