In a statement this evening an Independent Councillor and Liberal Democrat Paul Johnston has asked for the Scottish Liberal Democrats to investigate a breach of trust by an anonymous member of the Scottish Liberal Democrats in Aberdeenshire.
Councillor Paul Johnston said: “A person has breached confidentiality by spreading stories in the press to disrupt the proper internal process of trying to resolve differences over the Trump affair I have been scrupulous about staying within both the rules of the Liberal Democrats and within its principles. This damage comes as a huge disappointment for those interested in resolution”.
Paul is a Councillor falsely accused of misconduct by Aberdeenshire Councillor colleagues and sits as an Independent on Aberdeenshire Council. He became an Independent following the failure of Council Leader Ann Robertson to acknowledge that her accusation was false, having been told he had no case to answer after an investigation by the Governments Standards Commission.
Paul has been a Liberal Democrat member since 1974 when he stood for his school mock election in Elgin Academy as a Liberal Candidate.
“I had first delivered leaflets for the Liberals when I was twelve in the 1970 general election and was later convinced by Russell Johnston, MP for Inverness at the time, that being a Liberal was about fairness, justice and democracy with individual rights and liberties in politics. Everything I believed in then, I still be believe in now.
Since joining in 1974 Paul Johnston has served on the National Executive of the Young Liberals , served as Secretary and Convener of Local Parties (Constituencies) and was first elected as a Liberal Councillor when still a student in Aberdeen in 1982 to Grampian Regional Council, alongside the equally young Nicol Stephen. He has been on Aberdeenshire Council since re-organisation in 1995
Paul has served for many years as a member and treasurer of the Association of Liberal Democrat Councillors, also on the Federal UK Committee representing several thousand Councillors in the UK. He is an approved Parliamentary Candidate and has been both a member of the Scottish Party Executive, the Party’s Policy Committee and Conference Committee.
During the recent General Election Paul Johnston was working in several key Liberal Democrat seats for the Party.
