AS COUNCIL ELECTIONS
email It will be the epicentre of what is shaping up to be the most bitterly contested local government election in Scottish history.
Council elections normally attract about as much excitement as a Sunday league football match between two hungover pub teams.
But all eyes will be on May 4, when it’s estimated that at least half of Scotland’s 32 councils will swap hands, with the Tories expected to make major gains at the expense of Labour.
In Perth and Kinross, it will be the SNP and Tories wrestling for control.
The local authority have been led by the SNP for the past decade. But Tory hopes of taking control on May 4 have been boosted by winning a by- election last year with a swing of over 10 per cent from the Nats.
Theresa May urged voters to use the elections to send Nicola Sturgeon a message that they don’t want another vote on independence.
But, as the Sunday Mail has discovered on a visit to Perth and Kinross, next month could instead be a referendum on the Prime Minister’s handling of Brexit.
We spoke to voters in the Fair City who were dismayed by the PM’s actions.
Romina Burns, 23, said: “My Polish boyfriend and I have been together for seven years. I’m worried about whether he’ll still have the right to live here.
“How would Theresa May feel if her family were split up?
“Lukasz works in construction and pays his taxes. His family have become my family.
“I support the idea of Scotland becoming independent and staying in Europe. The EU is about sharing and giving people a helping hand.
“I’m proud that we’re a welcoming country and accept people from all over the world.”
Perth and Kinross resoundingly backed Britain to stay in the EU, with 61 per cent voting in favour of Remain. Timothy Hardie, who has owned a jewellers in Perth for 35 years, said he had voted to Leave but was now having second thoughts. The 72-year-old said: “I never realised when I voted to get out of Europe that it was going to be so complicated. “How it’s going to be sorted? I wonder if there was another vote, I might have voted the other way.” But he said he would be voting Conservative on purely local issues, claiming the town centre had declined under the SNP. He pointed to the former department store McEwens of Perth opposite his shop, who closed their doors in 2016 after nearly 150 years in business. Timothy added: “If there were SNP people who had a bit of business sense and could come up with some good ideas for the centre of Perth, I would vote for them. “All the SNP are thinking about is Perth becoming City of Culture in 2021. “I don’t like running Perth down but it certainly isn’t what it used to be.” Meanwhile, florist and cof fee shop owner John Maestri said regeneration of Perth should be one of the key priorities for the next council. The former Black Watch soldier, 46, said: “Two of the biggest issues in the city are empty shop units and parking. “I don’t care what party win the election as long as they do their job. They should listen to people who live and work here.” Retired
Brexit has changed a lot of people’s position on independence