One of Scotland’s newest SNP councillors has blamed so-called “cybernats” from within her own party for forcing her to withdraw her application to stand as a parliamentary candidate for Holyrood next year and resign as convener of the Kirkcaldy SNP branch.
Kirkcaldy East councillor Marie Penman, who led the Kirkcaldy Yes campaign and was credited with helping secure a seven-fold increase in local SNP membership ahead of the referendum, told colleagues she had been saddened by a “smear campaign” against her.
Mrs Penman, who was elected to Fife Council in January, had expressed her intention to run against MSP David Torrance for the Kirkcaldy seat at the Holyrood elections next year.
However, having failed to secure initial backing from within her branch on June 9 and with just weeks to go before the SNP’s internal nomination process closes on July 20, Mrs Penman, who is a lecturer at Fife College, has told members that she has withdrawn from the process.
It comes after postings by unidentified individuals on a Kirkcaldy SNP Facebook site accused her of “lacking any integrity or morals”, while another message described her as a “self-serving opportunist and careerist”.
News of Mrs Penman’s decision to withdraw from the process but continue as a councillor was confirmed on a Kirkcaldy SNP Facebook site.
An SNP spokesperson told The Courier: “While we cannot comment on the specifics of this case, we are absolutely clear that online debate both within a party and between parties must be respectful at all times.”