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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Politics
Lucinda Cameron

SNP politician bills taxpayer for 23 pairs of shoes and £750 haircut in £8,000 spree

An SNP politician has been urged to resign after it emerged she splashed out on 23 pairs of shoes and a £750 haircut - and billed the taxpayer for the expense.

Glasgow's Lord Provost claimed £8,000 in expenses for clothes, shoes and beauty products.

Eva Bolander spent £1,150 on 23 pairs of shoes and £435 for seven blazers between May 2017 and August 2019, the Daily Record reported.

She also claimed up to £992 for 14 dresses, £665 for five coats, £374.50 for six jackets and £152 for underwear.

The SNP councillor also claimed for money spent on her appearance including £751 for 10 haircuts, £479 for 20 nail treatments and £66 on make-up.

Examples of expenses receipts submitted by Glasgow Lord Provost Eva Bolander (Daily Record)
Eva Bolander, on the left, pictured with SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon (PA)

Scottish Labour have branded the spending "grotesque" and called on her to repay the money and step down.

Glasgow Labour MSP James Kelly said: "While services for homeless people across Glasgow are being cut, the SNP Lord Provost has been touring the city in a grotesque spending spree at the taxpayers' expense.

"In just one trip to John Lewis she spent more on herself than what a worker being paid the national minimum wage earns in a whole week.

"Eva Bolander should pay back the money and resign."

The Lord Provost also claimed £358 for a pair of spectacles and £240 on two hats

Lord Provost Eva Bolander put 23 pairs of shoes on expenses (PA)

Labour MSP Monica Lennon tweeted that the spending would have funded 72 school clothing grants, which are £110 for a child from a low-income family.

A Glasgow City Council spokesman said: "The national committee that oversees councillors' pay recognises that the requirement to represent their city at hundreds of events means Lord Provosts often incur personal expenses.

"For that reason, the Scottish Government allocates a civic allowance to each council.

"For Glasgow City Council, this is subject to a yearly maximum of £5,000."

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