Partiesrule outofficial coalitions

East Ayrshire’s three main political parties have ruled out any formal coalitions after May’s local elections.

The Labour party in East Ayrshire has seemingly adopted Mr Sarwar’s stand against formal coalitions, bringing all three main parties into line with one another.

Group leader cllr John McGhee said:“We should not be looking at coalitions with any political party, but rather looking to get as many Labour councillors elected as we can.”

Current SNP council leader Douglas Reid said that his party already have a‘track record of inclusiveness’when it comes to working across party lines, but he ruled out any agreement with theTories.

Parties will need to secure 17 out of 32 seats for a majority.

The Tories have also unequivocally rejected the idea of a coalition, only saying that they would‘possibly’work on an informal basis with other parties, but not the SNP.