Councillor hits out at online trolls as she quits

Maxine Smith was first elected to Highland Council in 2007

A Highland councillor who has quit after 18 years in the role says she has been the victim of frightening online trolling.

Businesswoman Maxine Smith, an independent councillor for Cromarty Firth, said she was resigning for personal reasons.

But in a statement she said she had been targeted with online abuse and threats because of her work as a councillor, and because she is a woman.

Ms Smith said: "I'm not an angel I'm just a woman and any time we make mistakes as a politician we are hung, drawn and quartered by social media."

She added: "This has become a frightening world to live in and I just want to be an ordinary human being."

Ms Smith also paid tribute to "some wonderful, kind and compassionate" constituents, and she said she would miss many of her fellow long-serving councillors.

In the 1990s, Ms Smith was a community volunteer and campaigned against local school closures.

She was elected as an SNP councillor in 2007 and has been an independent since 2022.

Last year, a court case against Ms Smith was dropped.

She was accused of faking disabled parking Blue Badges so drivers of tour buses she owns could use restricted spaces.

In her statement, Ms Smith said: "There have been some extremely stressful and worrying moments during my time as councillor and in the last few years there have been serious hate incidents where I've found myself at the centre of false allegations that were headlined in the press.

"I've been trolled on social media time and time again by people with opposing views and I've been the victim of bullying and threats from people, mostly for things I was innocent of."

Ms Smith said she would be continuing her tour business and also other interests, including college studies.

She said: "I'm not retiring from the world yet, just the council."

Ms Smith said her part in rediscovering a valuable sculpture of an 18th Century laird in a shed on a Highland industrial estate was among highlights of her council career.

Made by French artist Edmé Bouchardon, the bust is of Highland MP and landowner Sir John Gordon, whose family founded the town of Invergordon on the Cromarty Firth.

Highland Council hopes to raise more than £2m from its sale, with the profits going to Invergordon.