No more Tories in area
Tory councillors in Rutherglen and Cambuslang have been wiped off the map in the local elections.
The party previously had two representatives in the area, in Rutherglen Central and North and in Cambuslang West, but have now lost both seats.
Those were the only changes to the area’s local representatives, with the SNP gaining the Rutherglen Central and North slot previously held by Jared Wark, who declined to stand at this election.
Andrea Cowan was elected for the SNP at the count earlier, at the John Wright Sports Centre in East Kilbride.
In Cambuslang West Ann Le Blond was ousted in favour of Norman Rae of the Liberal Democrats, a result hailed as a“tremendous victory”by his colleague Robert Brown, who was himself returned in Rutherglen South.
Ms Le Blond told the Reformer that she understood people’s frustration with the Tories, and that she had decided to leave the party herself.
She said:“I’m disappointed but I was realistic about it as well – I knew it was unlikely I’d be back in from the feedback we got on the street.
“I had people saying to me they had always voted Tory but would sit this one out due to Boris Johnson and to be honest I could totally understand that feeling.
“I feel the party has really lost its way, both at Westminster and Holyrood.
“All the flip-flopping from Douglas Ross on whether Boris should resign was awful, and it feels like there is no direction at all.
“I’ve been with the party for about 20 years but I’ve handed in my membership. ”
The former Cambuslang West representative added that she would miss working with her fellow councillors John Bradley and Margaret Walker.
She said:“Margaret and John both said they’d miss me and that meant a lot to me. We really enjoyed working together and we tried to do as much as we could do together for the constituency, working across party lines.
“We tried to work it where we would help each other and bounce things off each other to help the area. They’re both great councillors and I hope that good relationship continues with Norman.”