SNP gains but air turns just a little more blue at Kilmory
THE SUN shone on Argyll and Bute for the council election on Thursday May 4 – but it was the Scottish Conservatives and SNP with a rosy glow after the votes were tallied.
Mid Argyll was one of just two contested wards where every one of the former councillors was re-elected, based on a turnout of 55 per cent.
In a third, South Kintyre ward, no election was needed as just three candidates – the incumbents – put themselves forward for the three available seats.
In Kintyre and the Islands, where 54 per cent of voters turned out, Anne Horn and Robin Currie successfully defended their seats, but the third was taken by Conservative Alastair Redman in place of independent candidate John McAlpine.
Along with the LibDems, the Tories and SNP increased their numbers around the council chamber.
After a day of counting at Lochgilphead Joint Campus, the overall make-up of Argyll and Bute Council is now – with numbers in the previous council in brackets – SNP: 11 (eight), Independents: 10 (18), Scottish Conservatives: nine (four), and LibDems: six (four).
Not only did it achieve the largest number of members, the SNP now has a councillor in every ward.
The electorate decided that a few wellknown faces would no longer serve as councillors after many years of service, including John McAlpine, Alex McNaughton in Cowal and Bute’s Robert MacIntyre.
But there are plenty of new faces and among that number a few with a strangely familiar look.
Former Argyll and Bute MP Alan Reid was elected to serve as a councillor in the Cowal ward – only to announce his Westminster candidacy just four days later.
Another familiar face around the joint campus during Friday’s count was Jamie McGrigor, previously a Highlands and Islands MSP, who retired from politics ahead of last year’s Scottish elections. He is now a councillor for Oban South and the Isles ward.