Deal or no deal on coalition?

Labour group leader Kevin Keenan has said the SNP’s loss of an absolute majority on Dundee City Council will allow better scrutiny of its decisions.

Mr Keenan, who leads the second largest group on the council, said coalition deals are possible but unlikely.

His party lost one seat and now has nine councillors.

But he said he was pleased the Labour vote had held up compared to other parts of the country.

He said: “It sends a strong message to the SNP that they are not performing as well as they can and there is now more of an opposition to them.”

Both Liberal Democrat group leader Fraser Macpherson and Conservative group leader Derek Scott were ecstatic at their parties’ gains.

The two parties each picked up a seat in The Ferry while the Tories also took a West End seat from the SNP.

Mr Macpherson said his party was open to negotiation with other parties regarding a possible coalition.

He said: “There is a whole mass of issues that haven’t been addressed.

“We will speak to everybody but we have to do what is best for Dundee.”

Mr Scott, whose brother Phillip also won a Ferry seat for the Tories, said it had been “a really good day” for the Conservatives.

He said: “People are seeing us as the opposition to the SNP. I’m looking forward to working for my group, and possibly in an administration.”

Independent councillor Ian Borthwick refused to be drawn on whether he would support either the SNP or a coalition of unionist parties.

Lib Dem Fraser Macpherson was pleased with his party’s gains.