Tag: City of Edinburgh Council

Deal done: it’s Labour and SNP

The Labour Party and the SNP have signed an agreement to work together to run the City of Edinburgh Council following the local government elections on 3 May.

The agreement follows concerted efforts to reach an all-party alliance between all the groups that had councillors returned by the electors last week. The coalition partners said they hoped to continue to work with the other groups in the interests of the people of Edinburgh.

Andrew Burns, Labour Group leader, said: “After listening to the will of the electorate and after intense negotiations over the last few days I am delighted that we have managed to reach an agreement to lead the city of Edinburgh for the next five years. Edinburgh electors gave a very clear mandate to Labour and the SNP, delivering 38 out of 58 councillors. A Labour-SNP coalition will now provide the stability and certainty needed to move Edinburgh forward.”

Steve Cardownie, SNP Group leader, said: “The SNP looks forward to working in partnership with the Labour group with a progressive and exciting agenda to meet the challenges the city faces. With this strong partnership we are best placed to ensure Edinburgh serves its citizens well and emerges from the recession quickly and strongly. Our groups’ economic policies are almost one and the same and we are confident they will deliver for the people of the city.”

Chief Executive Sue Bruce, who was notified of the agreement today, said: “I look forward to working with the new administration, and indeed all councillors, over the next five years.

“A successful Council needs a partnership between the elected members who set the direction and policies, and the officers charged with putting that into practice. Together, our responsibility is to ensure that we take Edinburgh forward and make a real difference to the people who live and work here.”

The coalition parties have agreed the following division of positions: the Labour Party will nominate candidates for the positions of Leader and Lord Provost; the Scottish National Party will nominate candidates for the positions of Deputy Leader and Deputy Lord Provost.

The first meeting of the new Council is on Thursday 17 May, at which it will appoint a new Lord Provost. It is intended that the other aforementioned positions will be agreed at the same meeting.

They think it’s all over …

Final declaration from Meadowbank:

PORTOBELLO/CRAIGMILLAR: Child (Lab), Bridgman (SNP) and Walker (Lab) elected.

The composiiton of the new council is:

LAB – 20 (+5), SNP – 18 (+5) , CON – 11 (no change), GRN – 6 (up 3), LD – 3 (down 13).

So the count is over, but now the work begins to establish a new administration. That new administration could take a number of forms – Lab/Lib Dem/Green is one, but would Labour want to be associated with a ‘toxic brand’ like the Lib Dems? Or what about a Lab/Con coalition? Could Labour supporters stomach a union with the ‘old enemy’?

Negotiations will have already begun and all will become clear. In the meantime, congratulations to the successful candidates – all that hard work has been worthwhile. Enjoy the day, the real hard work starts soon. To the unsuccessful ones, commiserations – particularly to those good, hard-working ward councillors who found their party was just too unpopular. It’s tough, but it’s politics.

I’m signing off now, it’s been a long, long day and it’s time for a drink … and thanks to (both the) readers who have stuck with us!

Labour almost there …

Latest declarations:

SOUTHSIDE/NEWINGTON: Burgess (Green), Perry (Lab) Rose (Con), Orr (SNP) elected.

LIBERTON/GILMERTON: Austin-Hart (Lab), Buchanan (SNP), B Cook (Lab), N Cook (Con) – too many cooks! – elected.

Unless I’ve missed something, only Portobello/Craigmillar to declare …

The election’s not been a total disaster for the Lib Dems – looks like the Lib Dem group can share a taxi home!

Election Latest – 4pm: It’s going Labour’s way

Latest declarations:

LEITH WALK: Chapman (Green), Blacklock (Lab), Brock (SNP), Gardiner (Lab) elected. LAB GAIN

CRAIGENTINNY/DUDDINGSTON: Griffiths (Lab), Lunn (Lab), Tymkewycz (SNP) elected. LAB GAIN

Labour and the SNP are now neck and neck on 14 seats each – Labour’s decision to stand two candidates in some wards has paid handsome dividends. The Green Party is on course for a best ever performance and can have a major say in the future direction of the new administration.

‘Red and green should never be seen’ is an old proverb – but would you bet against Labour and the Greens forming a minority administration?

Election Update – 3.15pm

The latest results from Meadowbank:

City Centre: Doran (Lab), Mowat (Con), Rankin (SNP) elected.

Meadows/Morningside: Godzik (Lab), Howat (SNP), Main (Green), McInnes (Con) elected.

By my reckoning the current tally is: SNP – 11, LAB – 9, CON – 8, GRN – 3, LD – 3 with seven wards still to be declared and 24 councillors to be elected.

Nearing the finishing line it looks as if our predictions have proved to be fairly accurate. Labour is on course to become the biggest party, the Greens are doing particularly well  (currently neck and neck with the Lib Dems for number of seats on the new council) and the Lib-Dems have crashed spectacularly.

It’s not over yet, though – maybe there’s still time for a surprise or two.

Congratulations

Let us be among the first to congratulate new councillors Gavin Barrie (SNP) and Nigel Bagshaw (Green) in Inverleith and Vicky Redpath (Labour) in Forth Ward on their election victories. We’d like to point out that you can advertise your surgery times and all other important information in the NEN – your community newspaper!

Look forward to hearing from you!

Boswall community’s united in celebration!

A celebration has been held to mark the opening on 15 new affordable homes and a church centre in Boswall Parkway by Port of Leith Housing Association (PoLHA).

The Association bought the Granton United Church site in 2010  and was committed to providing a centre for a local congregation as part of its  building plans. The development, built with £1m funding from the City of Edinburgh Council, has been shortlisted for a Scottish Home Award  for Community Partnership of the Year.

There are two one-bedroom, 10 two-bedroom and three  three-bedroom flats in the Boswall Parkway development . More than two-thirds of the properties feature solar thermal heating provided by panels located on the roof.

An opening ceremony was held at the Granton United Church last week and was attended by around 30 people including PoLHA  representatives, contractors and tenants, as well as local MSP Malcolm  Chisholm.

Cathy  King, Head of Housing and Regeneration at the City of Edinburgh Council, said: “This development  is a great example of the council and Port of Leith Housing Association working  in partnership with the local community to deliver much-needed affordable homes.  The existing building has now been transformed into 15 energy-efficient flats  and a purpose-built church hall which everyone will be able to benefit from.”

Keith Anderson, Chief Executive of PoLHA,  said: “This site, incorporating a church, is one that’s completely  unique for us and we’re delighted to have been able to  develop a centre as part of our plans. Creating communities in which people want to live is more than simply providing a roof over people’s  heads: it’s providing good-quality, energy-efficient housing people are proud of, and it’s supporting individuals, families  and local groups to help bring people together and be a  community.”

Granton United Church has around 35 members. Treasurer Ted Wallace  said: “The members all seem happy with the new  centre and we’ve settled in.”

Resident Paula McVay added: “Our new home is great and we’re really happy  with the energy-efficient measures.”

Crunch time for Council candidates as count begins

You’ve had your say and the count of votes cast in yesterday’s local council elections is now underway at Meadowbank Stadium, where Edinburgh will elect 58 councillors.

Early indications are that voter turnout is not as bad as first feared – there were gloomy predictions of 30% or even less in some areas yesterday. The political parties certainly can’t blame poor weather if the turnout is low – yesterday’s weather was fine.

The composition of the outgoing Council was: Lib-Dem 16, Labour 15, SNP 13, Conservative 11 and Green Party 3. Following that last council election in 2007, the Lib Dems and SNP entered into a coalition to form the administration, and despite directly opposing views on Edinburgh’s controversial tram project, the partnership held firm for the full five year term.

Last night’s results from England show a resurgent Labour party, but this is unsurprising given Labour started from a very low base, having been drubbed in the previous council elections down south. The current Conservative/Lib Dem coalition at Westminster is also particularly unpopular just now; party managers will claim the local election results are ‘mid-term protest votes’ – they usually do!

In Scotland, there is a different dynamic with the rise of the SNP and the party’s historic victory in last year’s Holyrood election. The challenge for the Nationalists is to maintain that momentum, or was last May the high-water mark?

Here in Edinburgh, it’s hard to tell what impact, if any, the trams fiasco had on the way voters cast their ballots. It does appear likely that the Lib Dems will pay the price for both being a partner in an unpopular Westminster government and, locally, the main party heading up a weak and indecisive administration.

What will happen to the Lib Dem vote if, as some predict, it collapses? Hard to say, but it could be the Green Party who are the main beneficiaries of disaffected Lib Dems.

Whatever the turnout, the result will be very tight and before the count no-one really knows how this is going to play out. If forced to make a prediction, I would say Labour will finish as the biggest party with perhaps sixteen councillors. The Greens in particular, the SNP and the Tories could all also pick up a seat or two at the Lib-Dems expense; my guess – and it is a guess – is that the Lib Dems could lose six seats.

One thing for certain is that no one political party can have an absolute majority in the City Chambers, and after the count (or perhaps even before!) the horse-trading begins. We will know the composition of the new Council by late this afternoon, but we may have to wait a while longer to find out who will be running our city.

NEN’s Thomas Brown will be ‘tweeting’ from Meadowbank throughout the course of the day