Officegate

The Officegate scandal was a controversy surrounding then Scottish First Minister Henry McLeish in 2001. It resulted in his resignation from the post.

While McLeish was a Westminster Member of Parliament between 1987 and 1998, before the advent of devolution, he sub-let his constituency office in Glenrothes, Fife, but failed to ensure that it was registered, or ensure that the party issued funds from the income to the House of Commons. There was no allegation that he ever received or planned to receive any funds from the sub-let.

The issue was raised by the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party in the Scottish Parliament in April 2001. At that time he voluntarily paid the money to Westminster. There were continuing claims he should resign, mainly from the Scottish National Party who claimed the issue questioned his integrity.

McLeish rebutted the charges against him, claiming that the issue was "a muddle, not a fiddle". Under pressure from internal forces within the party (possibly including his successor), he resigned on 8 November.^[1] He was replaced by Jack McConnell.

References

1. ^ "Officegate: Is Henry McLeish right to resign?", BBC News, 13 November 2001.

• BBC news article on McLeish's resignation