Tommy Sheridan says he has been 'victimised' by Glasgow City Council
Glasgow City Council has declined to comment as there is an ongoing case over the issue at the Court of Session.
Sheridan told BBC Scotland News that his gender critical views on trans rights were a factor in the decision by the council, adding he had "no doubt whatsoever" that he was being blacklisted.
He said: "I don't think it chimes with the spirit of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act to hold against someone a 15-year-old conviction.
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"Particularly when I've already had to go through a vetting process, a very stiff vetting process from the body that was set up to regulate social care."
Sheridan (below) went to Scotland's highest civil court after he received a rejection letter in August last year, in a bid to get the decision overturned.
The Court of Session heard social work bosses refused to give Sheridan a job because of the 'unacceptable level of risk' his perjury conviction posed to a council.
(Image: NQ) In 2011, Sheridan was found to have had lied under oath during a £200,000 defamation action against the News of the World newspaper and was sentenced to three years in jail.
He was subsequently declared bankrupt in 2022 after running up debts while trying to prove he had been wrongfully imprisoned.
He appealed against his conviction in 2015, and again in 2016. Both applications were refused.
Sheridan's political career was derailed when stories appeared in the News of the World alleging he had taken cocaine and cheated on his wife Gail at swingers' parties.
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He had risen to prominence as a fierce opponent of the poll tax and led the SSP as a serious political force in Scotland, culminating in the passage of his bill to outlaw poindings and warrant sales.
But after successfully suing the now-defunct weekly tabloid for defamation, his case was reviewed and he was later found to have lied to court – resulting in a three-year sentence, of which he served one year.
Sheridan said: "If I was applying for a job in the PR department that may have been a consideration.
"But dealing with people who have got social problems, trying to help people, trying to use your values, your skills, your knowledge, trying to make people's lives better. I don't understand it at all."
He said he believed his views on trans issues were a factor.
"I think being a socialist is always difficult for some of the SNP councillors, but I think the biggest area would be my gender critical views," he told the Scotcast podcast.
"I don't share the SNP's position that someone can declare that they're a man or a woman. I believe in biology, I believe in science, and so does the law now.
"Now, those are gender critical views that Glasgow City Council SNP group don't agree with. So I've got no doubt in my mind that that's part of the package."
Sheridan previously led the Scottish Socialist Party at Holyrood. They won several seats in 1999 and 2003.
Most recently, he was elected to the governing body of the Alba Party and has put his name forward in the hope of being selected as an Alba candidate for the Scottish Parliament.
He said his own "lived experience" behind bars made him an ideal candidate for a youth social work job in criminal justice.
"I come from a very working class background, brought up in a housing scheme, having been in and around jails for the best part of 20-odd years," he said.
"I have intimate knowledge of the processes, challenges and what prison is really like."
Sheridan is still awaiting a decision on his action at the Court of Session.
His lawyer said the council acted unlawfully in its decision to permanently exclude him from social work jobs.
Glasgow City Council's lawyer Paul Reid KC told the court the local authority acted lawfully and were legally entitled to refuse employment.
Lord Young said he would issue a verdict in the near future.
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