‘Stable leadership for the Council moving forward’ – Council Leader Cllr Adam McVey
The City of Edinburgh Council is to be run by an SNP and Labour coalition. SNP group leader Adam McVey (SNP) and Labour’s Cammy Day will sign the formal agreement later today, ending weeks of uncertainty. The capital has been without political leadership since last month’s council elections.
The city proportional representation system used in local government elections makes it very unlikely that any one party will achieve a majority and the new SNP-Labour coalition is a repeat of the last administration, dubbed the Capital Coalition, which saw the then two biggest parties sharing power with Labour as the senior partner
May’s local government elections saw the SNP returned as the biggest party on the council with 19 councillors, just edging out the Conservatives (18) with Labour trailing in third with 12. The Greens won eight seats and the Liberal Democrats six.
With the SNP unlikely to do any deals with the Tories a progressive ‘Rainbow Coalition’ was mooted but quickly dropped and it was always likely that an SNP-Labour ‘Capital Coalition 2’ deal would be struck – this time with the SNP as the senior partner. The snap general election got in the way, but negotiations continued and now that the Westminster dust has settled (almost) the deal to run Edinburgh can be made public.
Committee conveners will be appointed at next Thursday’s full council meeting (22 June).
New council leader Adam McVey told the BBC: “I am pleased that we have been able to reach this agreement, which will provide stable leadership for the Council moving forward.
“This administration will implement a progressive policy agenda which will have as our top priority the improvement of our core public services and dealing with the key issues that face the people of our Capital.
“As the city’s youngest ever Council leader, I’m keen to bring a new vision to our exciting and vibrant Capital. The SNP and Labour teams are ready to get to work for the city bringing an energetic, determined approach to address Edinburgh’s needs.”
Labour group leader Cammy Day said: “Labour and the SNP can offer the strong partnership required to lead the Council, and we look forward to working together and putting Edinburgh first.
“Our vision has always been to progress projects and policies which benefit the citizens of Edinburgh and we will continue this throughout our term of office, working with our trade union colleagues and devolving decision-making to local communities as far as possible. I call on the Greens to join and support our vision of how we can unleash our city’s potential.”
‘Stable leadership’ … now where have I heard that before?
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