A senior Labour councillor has been caught in a Twitter storm after suggesting his party did not want certain people's votes.
Brian McGinley was met with an online backlash over his response to the vote of no confidence in First Minister Nicola Sturgeon – which his party bosses failed to support.
A Twitter user contacted Mr McGinley to say they could no longer consider voting Labour as a result.
And the depute leader of South Ayrshire Council replied: "That's fine because we want voters who understand what we are about.
"If your vote is dependent on a single issue like this then that's too unstable.
"If you cannot see the bigger picture, Labour's vision, values and commitments, then you would be better staying on the other side."
His post was slammed as an "absolutely clueless response" with one user branding it "the most ludicrious tweet I have seen in a long time".
Mr McGinley, the South Ayrshire Labour leader, props up the SNP-led adminstration on his local council.
But he also savaged Ms Sturgeon and her party in a string of messages.
He posted: "Let's be clear. Ms Sturgeon doesn't know how to do anything other than toxic politics and division."
He also branded the First Minister a "right wing nationalist" and said local government funding was "a mess" under the SNP.
But he insisted today that his Twitter remarks on Labour's potential voters were a "misunderstanding".
Cllr McGinley told Ayrshire Live: "The point I was trying to make is that Labour has a programme for Covid recovery and that’s what I would like voters to recognise and vote for.
"The context of the tweet was in response to someone who said they would not vote Labour and what I was trying to get across was that individual voters cannot bend a political party to their own individual will.
"There are many reasons for someone to cast their vote but political parties need to be open and honest with people – a trait that has been sadly missing in recent governments.
"I would be delighted for anyone to vote for Labour but I also want them to know what we stand for as well as what we are against.
"Too often, in my opinion, political parties concentrate on the weaknesses of others and fail to outline a political agenda of how and what they will deliver for the voters of Scotland."
John Scott, the Conservative candidate for Ayr in the upcoming election, said: “It is extremely disappointing to see this senior Labour politician dismiss a potential voter in this way.
“As someone who has been lucky enough to have been elected by voters in this area for the last 20 years, I know never to take any vote for granted.
“Over the next six weeks I will be fighting for every vote and listening to voters right across this constituency whatever their views.
“That is the attitude every representative should have while engaging with the public, whether on or off social media.”
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