Glasgow by-election looms after legal blunder sees new Labour councillor disqualified

However, she is an employee of Glasgow City Council.

Under the Local Government (Scotland) Act, she was required to resign the next working day.

That meant she had until midnight 23:59 on November 25 to quit.

However, Ms McNab did not. It is not clear why she did not.

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That meant that by the operation of the law, she ceased to be a councillor.

It is understood that senior officials in the council have been taking legal advice as this is the first time this has happened anywhere in the UK.

Given the lack of precedence, the authority is applying to Sherrif Principal, Aisha Anwar, for a declarator, to get a definitive ruling on the law.

If she agrees that Ms McNabb is no longer a councillor, it will trigger another costly by-election.

Voters went to the polls earlier this month following the election of Maureen Burke to the Commons in July.

Turnout was exceptionally low, with just 12.4% of those registered to vote doing so.

Ms McNab won 34.3% of first preference votes, just ahead of the SNP’s 32.2%.

A spokesperson for Glasgow City Council told The Herald: “On Tuesday it became clear that the victor in the North East by-election had not resigned from her employment in Glasgow City Council.

“This automatically disqualified her with the effect that she is no longer a councillor and a by-election will need to be held.

“This is however untested legal ground and to ensure the law is being correctly interpreted we will tomorrow begin the process of seeking a declarator from the Sheriff Principal to that effect.”

An SNP spokesperson said the fault lay with Labour: “Right now, we’re awaiting clarity on what is an unprecedented situation and it’s right and proper that the courts provide that clarity.

“If these new levels of Labour incompetence do mean a fresh by-election, one can only hope the party’s leadership foots the bill for its failings. Meanwhile, the SNP stands ready to take our message and our record to the voters of Glasgow North East.”

Scottish Labour has been approached for comment.

Last month, a councillor in Edinburgh triggered a by-election when she quit just eight days after being elected.

Lib Dem Louise Spence comfortably won the Colinton/Fairmilehead ward in a campaign which contrasted her local roots with her rivals who lived elsewhere in the capital..

However, she then announced she would be stepping down due to a “sudden change in personal circumstances,” saying she was “truly sorry at what has happened”.

The Daily Record reported that her Colinton property had been put on the market on November 15, the day after the by-election, for offers over £730,000. Reports suggested she was looking to split her time between Dubai and Edinburgh.