Councillor deselected
Councillor Cairney hits out at Labour candidacy snub
An East Kilbride councillor says he is “disgusted” after being deselected.
John Cairney will not be Labour’s candidate for East Kilbride East at May’s council elections.
The party say he failed to gain members’ support.
Mr Cairney fumed: “Am I angry? I am disgusted.”
A long-standing councillor says he is “disgusted” that he hasn’t been selected by the Labour party to stand in May’s council elections.
John Cairney, who has been a councillor for nearly 10 years and is chair of South Lanarkshire Council’s joint valuation board, will not be a candidate for the East Kilbride East ward.
He is Scotland’s only registered blind councillor.
Graham Scott, who used to be an election agent for former MP Michael McCann, will stand for Labour in the ward.
McCann was booted out in the 2015 General Election, losing the East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow seat to the SNP’s Lisa Cameron.
Mr Cairney, from The Murray, told the News that he is proud of his record as a councillor in East Kilbride and is reeling at his deselection.
“Am I angry? I am disgusted,” he said.
“I have been a member of the Labour party for more than 40 years and have been a trade union member since I was 17 — so nearly 50 years.
“In all my time as a councillor, I have never had a complaint and I have worked extremely hard and have been so proud to serve the local community.
“For whatever reason, the party have decided to have one candidate for the East Kilbride East ward in May’s elections — and it’s not me.
“It seems to have been decided to bring someone back who previously stood rather than go with the existing candidate.
“I don’t think I can fathom the reasons behind it at this moment in time.”
Mr Scott stood beside Councillor Cairney in the 2012 council elections but lost to him. A spokesman for the Labour party in East Kilbride said: “I can confirm John Cairney was unsuccessful in gaining the support of members in his ward and was therefore deselected.”
On the One in Five Campaign website — which aims to encourage, empower and increase political participation among disabled people in Scotland — Mr Cairney speaks about his role as a councillor and the impact of his visual impairment.
He wrote in August: “I was first elected as a councillor in 2007 just two years after being officially registered as blind.
“It was the third time I had run for office and losing my sight did lead me to rethink my campaign strategy for purely practical considerations.
“I have been a councillor for nine years now, my fellow elected members from all parties and the council staff have been very willing to offer support and help but I can’t deny it has been a learning process for us all.
“I was South Lanarkshire’s first blind elected member so there was no precedent for what support would work generally and what would work specifically for me.”
He went on: “I do believe being blind allows me to bring something extra to discussions with fellow elected members and the wider community; in particular when we are dealing with matters involving disability.
“I can bring a ‘been there and got the T-shirt’ attitude which can help cut to the chase.”