Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

EXCLUSIVE: Braden Davy is second Angus Tory councillor unmasked as anti-SNP troll

Braden Davy is interviewed during the 2021 Scottish Parliament election.
Braden Davy is interviewed during the 2021 Scottish Parliament election.

A senior Conservative councillor can today be unmasked as the man behind an anonymous anti-SNP troll account that coached unsuspecting members of the public to “tactically vote” for him in May’s Scottish Parliament election.

It is the second administration member on Angus Council to be exposed by us as running such an account in less than a week and is likely to heap fresh pressure on the beleaguered ruling coalition to take action.

Braden Davy, who stood for the party in Angus North and is Angus Council’s economic development spokesman, confessed to running the Angus Against the SNP Facebook page after our investigation uncovered his involvement.

Mr Davy, who stood unsuccessfully for Labour against Alex Salmond in the Gordon constituency in 2015 before switching his allegiances to the Tories, told voters to “vote with your constituency ballot for Braden Davy to stop the SNP” – without revealing he was behind the account.

We revealed last week how Arbroath East and Lunan councillor Derek Wann, the council’s children and learning convener, was responsible for running another anti-SNP troll account named after Lady Whistledown from the popular Netflix series Bridgerton.

Mr Wann, who campaigns against online bullying, used the account to anonymously post disparaging comments about the appearance of prominent female politicians, mock Dundee’s tragic record on drug deaths and argue with members of the public who challenged him as a councillor.

But in a revelation that is likely to throw the already embattled ruling group on Angus Council into further turmoil, we can reveal how his administration colleague, Braden Davy, set up a separate anonymous troll account to fool the public.

The page description on the Angus Against the SNP page reads: “This is a group for everyone in Angus who want to help stop nationalism. We believe we need local politicians focussed on the day job, not more flags.”

Mr Davy appears to have purged content from the page but posts that remain or have been uncovered by us show him repeatedly taking aim at Angus SNP ministers Graeme Dey and Mairi Gougeon – who he described as a “nationalist stooge”.

In another – now deleted – post, he described council colleagues Brian Boyd and David Cheape as “so called Independent councillors” and altered the image to show them wearing SNP badges after they voted for a budget put forward by SNP councillors.

Tactical voting

In a post on April 15 titled “tactical voting alert”, Mr Davy told members of the public in Angus North and Mearns they should vote for him “to beat the nationalist public health minister” – a role held by Ms Gougeon at the time.

“If we all act together we can vote her out,” he wrote. “Tactically vote with your constituency ballot for Braden Davy to stop the SNP.

“SHARE: Postal votes are arriving now!”

In a further update on April 18 he told people living in Angus South to vote for his Conservative colleague Maurice Golden but again made no reference to who was really running the page.

After being approached by us for comment, a Scottish Conservative spokesman confirmed Mr Davy has “referred himself to the party and the page’s content is being looked at”.

Mr Davy said: “I was involved in creating a cross-party platform to scrutinise the SNP in Angus. I’ve referred all relevant details to the party.”

Appalling behaviour

Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross is already facing calls to sack Derek Wann for his involvement in the Lady Whistledown account.

Douglas Ross.

An SNP spokesman said the latest revelation involving Mr Davy – who is seen as a rising star for the Conservatives – represents “yet another test of the leadership” of Mr Ross.

He said: “This latest example of appalling behaviour by Tories on Angus Council is indicative of a tendency towards nastiness at the heart of the Scottish Conservatives.

“The party has absolutely nothing positive to offer Scotland so its elected politicians resort to cowardly personal attacks while hiding behind a cloak of social media anonymity.

“There is no place for such behaviour in our politics and it must be rooted out. This is yet another test of the leadership of Scots Tory leader Douglas Ross – a test that, to date, he is failing miserably.”

Mr Davy, who was an assistant director of the Scottish Vote Leave campaign during the Brexit referendum campaign, previously worked as a parliamentary assistant to former Aberdeen South Labour MP Dame Anne Begg.

Mr Davy (centre left) during the 2015 election campaign in Gordon.

He stood unsuccessfully in the 2012 Aberdeenshire Council election and quit the party in 2016, later taking on work as a parliamentary assistant and office manager to Conservative MP Ross Thomson.

It caused a row within the party after Mr Thomson turned down a request from then-Tory chief whip John Lamont to abandon the appointment, with the MP’s office manager James McMordie resigning following a “breakdown in relations”.

Mr Thomson was ordered in 2016 to refund a £120 expenses bill for a hotel room shared with Mr Davy following a meeting to discuss possible employment opportunities, which was followed by a drinking session in Edinburgh with friends.

This article originally appeared on the Evening Express website. For more information, read about our new combined website.