The press watchdog has rejected claims by a political party leader that a daily newspaper deliberately published a story to inflict “maximum damage” on him pre-election.

Tommy Sheridan, left, complained to the Independent Press Standards Organisation that The National breached Clause 1 (Accuracy) of the Editors’ Code of Practice after reporting his Solidarity party “set for collapse after a mass exodus of senior figures”.

Mr Sheridan, who represented the Scottish Socialist Party as a Member of the Scottish Parliament between 1999 and 2007, said The National had inaccurately reported that “more than half” of the party’s candidates for May’s election had resigned.

He said at the time of publication in March, that Solidarity had at least 38 candidates standing in the election while only 10 individuals had resigned, and that the majority of the resignations were not by “senior members” as reported.

The party’s co-convener and the national secretary had not resigned, and Mr Sheridan added he believe the story had been deliberately published at a time when maximum damage would be inflicted on the party in the run up to the election.

The National accepted he national secretary had not resigned, but said that half of the candidates listed on Solidarity’s website at the time of publication had resigned.

The term “senior” had not indicated the length of their membership, but the seniority of their position in the party, while the newspaper had also sought comment from Solidarity before going to print.

The complaint was not upheld, and the full adjudication can be read here.

Other recent IPSO cases involving regional newspapers include:

A man v Hunts Post

A man complained that the Hunts Post breached Clause 1 (Accuracy), Clause 4 (Intrusion into grief or shock) and Clause 7 (Children in sex cases) reported that a defendant had been found guilty of sexual activity with a child.

It included details of some of the evidence heard in court, the age of the child, and that one instance of sexual activity had taken place in a layby. It said that the defendant had had a “sexual relationship” with the child.

The complainant was concerned by the article’s reference to the general location of a layby where one instance of sexual activity had taken place, adding that in combination with the disclosure of the child’s age this detail would have allowed her to be identified in the local community.

He also said that the article inaccurately implied that the child had spent the night with the defendant and that the “graphic” coverage had a profound impact on the child.

The Post apologised to the complainant for any further distress caused to the family by the article, but noted that there was a clear public interest in reporting court cases and that it had taken great care to ensure that its article included no details that would identify the child.

It did not state that the child had spent the night with the defendant on one occasion and said it had ensure the report was not unecessarily graphic.

The complaint was not upheld, and the full adjudication can be read here.

Lee v The Leader

Doreen Lee complained that The Leader breached Clause 1 (Accuracy) after it reported that the complainant’s conservatory might need to be demolished because it was built above a public sewer illegally.

She had contacted The Leader in the hope it would name the builder responsible, which it had not done so for leagal reasons, and added it had inaccurately reported the cost of the building work.

The Leader defended the accuracy of the piece, and said it was sorry if the complainant had been given the impression the builder would be named.

A clarification was published as a goodwill gesture by The Leader, and the full resolution statement can be read here.