David Graham: council report published into handling of complaint against jailed politician
A report into how Fife Council handled a historic complaint against the disgraced, jailed former councillor David Graham, has said it was resolved appropriately.
The former Labour politician was jailed in August 2025 for sexual offences against a 15-year-old girl.
It later emerged a member of council staff had complained informally about his behaviour nine years earlier. That sparked a report into the local authority’s policies for supporting staff, and how the matter was handled.
It engaged law firm, Brodie’s, to look into the 2017 complaint, and their report landed on desks of councillors at this week’s Cabinet meeting.
It said the complaint was not sexual in nature, and was “handled proportionately and resolved appropriately through informal steps” - as the administration had stated during an often heated debate last year.
That saw council leader David Ross survive an SNP motion of no confidence in his handling of the matter - leader Craig Walker had accused him of “leadership accountability and safeguarding failures.”
A visibly upset Cllr Ross branded the opposition’s move as “dirty politics” and a “disgusting attempt to gain political advantage on back of David Graham’s actions.”
Graham, 43, was sentenced to 27 months in prison at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court in August and his name was also added to the sex offenders register for a period of 10 years. Having served as a councillor since 2012, he was found guilty of abusing a 15 year-old girl at various locations in Fife and Edinburgh, including his office, home address and in his car, between February and August 2023.
The report presented to Cabinet said the council has “strong foundations and a positive culture” with regard to responding to concerns that are raised; and “policies that are generally consistent with good practice.” The law firm interviewed five witnesses, none of them new a no-one had come forward between Graham’s arrest in 2023 and his conviction in July 2025.
Councillor Altany Craik called on critics of the leader’s conduct to apologise.
“We had a number of contributions that strayed from the facts and into slur and allegation - unhelpful given the very serious matter and people were victims of his behaviour,” he said. “Some people need to reflect on their use of language, and Cllrs (Linda) Erskine and Ross are due an apology for some things said online.”
Councillor David Alexander (Leven, Kennoway and Largo, SNP) rejected the call, adding: “Absolutely no way. We’ve done nothing wrong. When this report was proposed I made it clear I wanted to be part of it because I did know stuff,” he said.
Cllr Craik described his opponent’s claims as “anecdotal, hearsay and did not address what happened in the room and how it was dealt with at the time.”