Scottish Liberal Democrat candidate quits to stand as an independent

The Press Association reports:

A top Liberal Democrat candidate for Holyrood has resigned from the party.

Hugh O’Donnell was Liberal Democrat MSP for Central Scotland before the start of campaigning earlier this month for the Scottish Parliament elections.

It is understood he was unhappy with the direction of the party in Scotland and the coalition in Westminster.

A Liberal Democrat spokeswoman said: “We have accepted Hugh O’Donnell’s resignation.”

Hugh O’Donnell has been pretty critical of the party for some time, so much so that seeing some of his comments made to posts of mine on Facebook I did a double-take wondering if his Facebook profile was a fake or had been hacked. So although the loss of any candidate in such circumstances is regrettable, it is not a great surprise in this case.