Who will get your vote? Election 2026
Thursday 23 April 2026
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Letters / Are we being taken for fools?

Are other Shetland voters as confused as I am about the political position of our ‘independent’ council leader Emma Macdonald.

Ms Macdonald sits in the council chamber as an independent elected member but is standing as the Liberal Democrat candidate in next year’s Scottish parliamentary elections.

Candidates are asking the electorate to trust them, their values, beliefs and ambitions.  I have no idea what Ms Macdonald believes in and would support in the council chamber or, if successful, in Edinburgh.

I understand that we vote for the person not the party and there is a tradition of Shetland council members being independent but quietly paid up members of a national political party.

I think this is the first time we have had an independent council member standing as a parliamentary candidate for a national party.

Are we being taken for fools?

I would be grateful if you could find out.

Mat Roberts
Bigton

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