A DOCUMENT claiming to reveal the deselection of a prominent SNP councillor in Helensburgh has been dismissed by the party as a forgery.

The Advertiser and other press outlets in Argyll and Bute received a copy of a letter, apparently signed by convener of the Argyll and Bute constituency party, Antony Harrison, on Monday, naming James Robb as one of two SNP councillors to have been deselected ahead of May’s local authority elections.

But after we asked him to comment on the contents of the letter, Mr Harrison said it was “entirely false”.

The letter claimed that Cllr Robb’s deselection was the result of a veto by the party’s Argyll and Bute MP, Brendan O’Hara – a mechanism senior party members insist does not exist within current party rules.

However, Cllr Robb, who has been one of the four Helensburgh Central ward councillors for the last 10 years, said he knew nothing of the document when we contacted him for a reaction.

He said: “I don’t comment on internal SNP matters.”

Mr O’Hara also declined to comment.

However, Mr Harrison said: “This document is a forgery and is entirely false. It is the first I have seen of it.

“I am discussing this with the constituency. As it is a forgery with my name at the bottom I am seeking advice with a view to taking the matter to the police."

Asked when the party was hoping to announce its candidates for the May 4 poll in Argyll and Bute, Mr Harrison said: "Selections have not yet been made. In the SNP, these are made by a ballot of local branch members in each ward; not by ‘veto’, ‘selection’ or ‘deselection’ by elected members or officers.

“Nationally there has been a huge number of potential candidates putting themselves forward, but the long list of approved candidates is now out.

“However, the branches now have to nominate candidates to go forward to selection, which is then done by a ‘one member one vote’ secret ballot, organised by an external polling company, so we have a wee bit to go.”

The document claimed that another SNP councillor – Anne Horn, who has represented Kintyre and the Islands since 2007 – had also been deselected, this time after being vetoed by the party’s Argyll and Bute MSP, Michael Russell.

It also stated that Helensburgh independent councillor Vivien Dance, who has been a member of the SNP since 2015 but has never been part of the party’s grouping on Argyll and Bute Council, would be expelled from the party if she stood against the approved SNP candidate in the Helensburgh Central ward.

Mr Russell said of the letter: “It is a forgery. No such genuine document exists.

“In addition, and for the record, there is no mechanism for any MSP (or MP) to veto a councillor or candidate.

“Moreover I have the highest regard for Anne Horn and have always supported her candidature and worked for her re-election.”

Cllr Dance told the Advertiser: “People just want me to do my job and make things better for Helensburgh and that is what I prefer to concentrate on.

“My only comment in the light of this forgery is that I have never put myself forward for selection to be a candidate for any parliamentary or local authority election for any party, in spite of being asked by three of the main political parties over the years.

“The selection of candidates to contest this year’s local authority election is an internal private matter for each party.

“Independent candidates put themselves forward for selection by the electorate only, the only process that really matters.”

Thirteen SNP candidates were elected in Argyll and Bute at the last council elections in 2012, though the party group now has only eight members.

This year’s local authority elections across Scotland will be held on Thursday, May 4. Nomination packs will be available from Argyll and Bute Council from Monday, March 13, with nominations closing at 4pm on Wednesday, March 29.