LABOUR BIDFOR COUNCIL POWER
Opponents slam‘grubby deal’
Labour are vying to take control of Stirling Council - with the support of local Tories - in a heated power struggle.
The party - who are third placed after securing six seats at the latest election compared to the SNP’S eight and Tory seven - have shunned a repeat of their Snp/labour coalition of the previous administration.
In a bid to run a minority administration, they have been accused of joining forces with Tories for a “grubby deal” and a “Better Together alliance” by opponents.
But Labour leader Chris Kane, below, who is poised to become council leader - says all 23 councillors must move forward to break a stalemate and called on them to “step up and work together”.
The SNP group have, however, spurned their advances as have newly independent Alasdair Macpherson and Greens councillor Alasdair Tollemache, who turned down the role of deputy provost.
Stirling Council looks set to be heading for a Labour minority administration after the party gained backing from the Tories.
Councillors meet tomorrow (Thursday) for the first time since the election.
But with six Labour, seven Conservative, eight SNP, one Green and one independent being elected - and the Tories and SNP highly unlikely ever to form a coalition - Labour’s group leader Chris Kane says there was no option but to try and find common ground in a bit to break a stalemate.
The previous council administration was SNP/ Labour but Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar made clear that no such partnerships would be repeated following the recent election.
Councillor Kane insisted that, while following talks the Conservatives appeared to have agreed to side with Labour on Thursday to get them over the line, the negotiations had not strayed into policy decisions and that he had reached out to all parties.
“As a minority administration, we know that the SNP and Conservative Groups can vote together against Labour policies,” he said.
“Issue by issue, Labour councillors have to find common ground with all elected members. We must work hard and we must work with respect.
“On Thursday, the council meets for the first time to appoint councillors to the many committees, public bodies, external organisations and boards we are required to serve on.
“There are 170 positions to be filled.
“A minority Labour administration will consist of six Labour councillors. We must prioritise.
“In the new spirit of finding common ground, we have this week reached out to all councillors to offer the opportunity to serve Stirling in a meaningful way.
“We spoke with the SNP Group about nominating a provost and they declined. We spoke with the Conservative Group and they agreed.
“We have offered the deputy provost role to Green councillor Tollemache and await his answer. We have met with Councillor Macpherson and want to find a way to work with him and look forward to hearing his ideas.”
Councillor Kane said he wanted to be “crystal clear” that all political leadership positions would be filled by Labour including himself as council leader and veteran councillor Margaret Brisley as depute leader, along with convenership of all decisionmaking committees - finance and economy, community planning and regeneration, environment and housing, and children and young people.
But he added that they had offered to support the election of SNP and Conservative convenors to positions such as the public safety committee and planning panel.
He said: “We will seek to negotiate on an issue by issue basis.
“There is common ground between Labour and the SNP in Stirling on Labour manifesto commitments to more council housing, tackling poverty, addressing the cost of living crisis and the climate emergency.
“There is common ground between Labour and the Conservatives in Stirling on the need to invest in roads maintenance and community sports facilities.
“There is common ground between Labour and Green councillor Alasdair Tollemache on active travel and protecting our green belt.
“There is common ground between Labour and independent councillor Alasdair Macpherson who wants a fair share of resources for the Bannockburn ward, just as every councillor does for their ward.,
“But there are, crucially, red lines for the Labour Group and the wider Labour movement which we could never support. For example, there will be no compulsory redundancies at Stirling Council and there will be no outsourcing of council services under a Labour minority administration.
“Labour’s primary purpose is to deliver on the manifesto commitments we put to the people of Stirling before the election, with a particular focus on addressing the severe cost of living crisis and improving the quality of life for those living in challenging circumstances. We must also provide local services that meets all of our needs.
“Over the coming weeks we will be bringing forward new policies and improving existing ones.
“Stirling needs all of us to step up and work together. I hope all councillors will support this new way forward.”
The Conservatives had not responded to us at the time of publication.
...we have reached out to all councillors to offer the opportunity to serve Stirling in a meaningful way Chris Kane