ABERDEEN’S lord provost will quit the role at the next election, but has denied his decision is linked to recent revelations about his expenses claims for clothes.

Councillor Peter Stephen, who has served as they city’s official representative since 2007, said he will not be seeking re-election at the next council elections in 2012.

Mr Stephen claimed £10,000 for clothing during three years in office, but said since he became lord provost he has waived £25,000 of his potential salary and has also seen the allowance cut to £4,000.

He said: “I will not be standing for re-election. I will have served a five-year term, but I accepted it on the basis of it being a four-year term.

“I got myself a bonus year, although it was not something I was enthusiastic about.

“I almost did not become lord provost in 2007 because I was not sure if I wanted to do another four years.

“It is not a question of trying to retire, this has been predetermined for a long time.”

Defended

Mr Stephen has defended his expenses claims and said they were justified because of the amount of events and travelling required for his role.

He said: “In previous years we would fly business class if it was a long flight, but I always fly economy.

“I don’t know what I’m going to be seeing at the other side. I have been greeted by mayors and officials and I could have a bouquet handed to me in one hand and a microphone in the other – I am representing the oil capital of Europe.

“It would be an embarrassment for the city if I was to look like some dishevelled person that didn’t care about his role.”

The Kingswells councillor’s expenses revealed he billed city taxpayers for 14 pairs of shoes and £2,000 worth of clothes for his wife, Sandra.

His claims also included shopping trips in the days before and after the Offshore Technology Conference in May last year.

The councillor faced particular criticism over a pair of jeans bought for £107, but Mr Stephen said he does not “buy jeans that often”.

The lord provost is allowed to claim £4,000 a year from a government fund, but Mr Stephen said he had helped raise between £400,000 and £500,000 for charities since he took up the role.

Mr Stephen said he was honoured to represent the city as lord provost, but he had wanted to retire at the last election.

He will be 75 when he leaves the role in 2012, and his job involves around 350 events each year. He said: “I am well past retirement age. To work the long hours I work as lord provost is not easy.

“There are wonderful things attached to being lord provost, but the hours and the days are very long.”