Changes at City Chambers

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SNP ends decades of Dundee Labour rule

By Brian Allison, local government reporter

LABOUR’S NEAR-30-YEAR dominance of council politics in Dundee was ended last night when the SNP took control of the city council.

After having been in power, either individually or in coalition, for almost three decades, Labour found themselves ousted from the administration.

With the help of Lord Provost John Letford, who decided to resign from the Labour group last week and sit as an Independent, the SNP succeeded in taking over the convenerships of the service committees.

Mr Letford remains as lord provost despite his former Labour colleagues attempting to replace him with Councillor Richard McCready.

The bitterness between Mr Letford and the Labour group was underlined by the entire group asking for their dissent to be formally recorded at his continuing as lord provost.

Independent councillor Ian Borthwick will still be depute lord provost, having been nominated for the post by both the SNP and Labour.

That means the previous civic team of Mr Letford and Mr Borthwick will remain, although their working relationship has been placed under severe strain by claims and counter-claims about the lord provost being asked to step aside early to make way for Mr Borthwick—allegedly in return for Mr Letford being proposed for an OBE.

As last night’s special meeting began, Mr Borthwick sought to have it adjourned for 48 hours to enable the parties to discuss forming an administration involving all of them.

He said he had never been so concerned about the economic future of the city in his 46 years of public service, a view he was sure was shared by thousands of families in Dundee—and the problems facing the city required the maximum effort by all the council’s political groups.

“There is talent in every group in the council and the question is how best we can harness that talent,” Mr Borthwick said.

Tory group leader Rod Wallace seconded Mr Borthwick, saying that it made sense to utilise the talents in the council to help the city weather the crisis.

He urged all sides to put aside their differences and party dogma so “the book can be ripped up and let’s start afresh.”

Mr Wallace said the idea of all parties having a role in the administration was not new and had been backed by the SNP in 2003.

In ensuring that no party had an overall majority on the council, he said, the electorate had indicated they did not want to see one party dominant and they should all work together.

SNP group leader Ken Guild moved the meeting should not be deferred and should continue as planned, as nothing useful could come out of such an adjournment.

He said that he and his colleagues had consulted with groups and individuals on the council in recent weeks with a view to taking over the administration.

They had a strong, unified team and postponing the meeting would simply delay the smooth changeover from one administration to the next.

Labour group leader Kevin Keenan said that, although he had previously said he was against an all-party administration be- cause of the lack of scrutiny it would involve, he was now prepared to support Mr Borthwick’s motion.

It was right to discuss it with council officers to see how it could be made to work.

Liberal Democrat group leader Fraser Macpherson also supported Mr Borthwick, saying the issue of scrutiny was the only problem he could see and he felt it could be satisfactorily resolved, as it has been elsewhere.

Mr Letford said the idea put forward by Mr Borthwick was a commendable one and was something he had been arguing for “over the last four or five years.”

It had been rejected by his then Labour colleagues and he was told it would not work as there had to be opposition and scrutiny.

Mr Borthwick’s motion was defeated 15 to 14, when the lord provost and the SNP’s 14 members voted against it.

The council then considered the SNP’s motion to take the administration, at which point Mr Letford vacated the chair to chief executive Alex Stephen.

Mr Guild moved a list of names as service committee conveners and deputy conveners, plus nominees to be council representatives on a variety of other bodies.

Mr Guild will become policy and resources committee convener—a post traditionally held by the leader of the administration. Education goes to Liz Fordyce; housing, Dundee Contract Services and environmental services to Jimmy Black; social work and health to Jim Barrie; and leisure, arts and communities to Bob Duncan.

A new committee, the city economic development committee, is to take over the merged functions of the planning and transport and economic development committees and the SNP proposed Will Dawson as convener.

Mr Wallace was proposed as convener of the development quality and licensing committees, and Mr Letford and Mr Borthwick as lord provost and depute.

Mr Keenan put forward alternative names for the posts, including Councillor McCready for lord provost and Mr Borthwick as depute, but was defeated by 15-10 when Mr Letford again voted with the SNP and the Conservatives and Mr Borthwick decided to abstain.