Thursday April 16th 2026
Councillor David Parker.
Written by Local Democracy Reporter, Paul Kelly
A councillor who labelled a fellow elected member as a Scottish Borders town’s answer to Donald Trump in a Facebook post did not breach a Code of Conduct, it has been concluded.
A complaint was lodged with the Commissioner for Ethical Standards in Public Life in Scotland by Selkirkshire Independent councillor Caroline Cochrane against Leaderdale & Melrose’s Independent representative David Parker.
The complaint centred on a Facebook post made by Mr Parker in November last year which referenced the proposed closure of Selkirk Swimming Pool.
He attacked Councillor Cochrane, alleging she had taken credit for a campaign to save the swimming pool in a Facebook post without acknowledging the efforts of Selkirkshire Conservative councillor Leagh Douglas, who he said had “worked tirelessly” to retain the facility.
In the post he described Councillor Cochrane as “dishonest”, compared her actions to those of President Donald Trump and stated that Selkirk Pool was saved “despite Councillor Cochrane, not because of her”.
The post claimed Councillor Cochrane “wanted to throw the pool under the bus”, adding: “Selkirk’s Trump is Caroline Cochrane!”
Councillor Cochrane complained over the “personal and critical comments about me”, finding the “tone, content and public nature of the comments deeply distressing”.
In his report, the commissioner found there was no breach of the councillors Code of Conduct, a report stating: “The Commissioner appreciates why the complainer was upset by the respondent’s comments, but he was entitled to express his views about this.
“The respondent disagreed with Councillor Cochrane’s summary of events and considered her own post to be both misleading and disrespectful to Councillor Douglas.”
The report found that evidence produced in his defence by Mr Parker “broadly supported his comments”.
The report adds: “Exaggeration and criticising another councillor in a social media post does not in itself amount to disrespectful conduct under the Code.
“Likewise, his comparison to Donald Trump was evidently intended as an insult, akin to an allegation that Councillor Cochrane was content to publicly post inaccurate information, but this in itself would not be considered a breach of the Code.”
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