After being ousted by the SNP, Argyll and Bute Council’s former leader, Lib Dem councillor Robin Currie, wants to join them in a new administration, taking four other Lib Dem councillors with him.
The five Lib Dem councillors were part of The Argyll, Lomond and Islands Group (TALIG), alongside nine Conservatives and four independents: Kieron Green, Andrew Kain, Liz McCabe, and Alastair Redman.
The 18-strong coalition ruled with half of the Kilmory Castle chamber’s 36 seats - enough to beat the 15 councillors of the Strategic Opposition Partnership (12 SNP, plus two independents Mark Irvine and Douglas Philand, and Labour’s Fiona Howard).
The SNP-led opposition made a dramatic grab for power with a ’no confidence’ vote on April 4, criticising TALIG for its "disingenuous" U-turn on a "reckless" 10 per cent council tax hike, and calling for change after "two years of indecisive, clandestine, and weak leadership".
The vote gained support from the three unaligned councillors, the Greens’ Luna Martin, independent Jennifer Kelly, and independent unionist Tommy Macpherson, to tie 18-18. It was decided by a cut of cards.
By the luck of the draw, Lib Dem councillor Robin Currie was ousted as leader by SNP councillor Jim Lynch, while independent councillor Dougie Philand deposed Conservative councillor Maurice Corry as Provost.
To govern, council leader Lynch must form an administration, with posts filled and a majority to pass votes, due to be revealed at the full council meeting on Thursday April 25. According to the report, a councillor’s basic salary is £21,345, rising to £25,574 for area committee chairs, and £32,024 for policy leads.
In last week’s vote to freeze council tax this year, two former policy leads in TALIG, independent councillors Kieron Green and Andrew Kain, switched sides to vote for the motion proposed by council leader Lynch, securing its passage 20 votes to 16.
Councillor Green told us he had left TALIG and "joined the Strategic Partnership". Councillor Kain also confirmed he will support the new SNP-led administration but still as an independent.
He explained: "The narrow party politics at the moment fails to address the main issues which are all economic."
All five Lib Dem councillors also left TALIG for talks to partner with a new SNP-led administration.
Councillor Currie, the Lib Dem group leader, told the TALIG remainers on April 16: “The prospect of being in opposition didn’t fill me with much joy and, while realising that the way ahead may be rocky, I think it’s best that we are in partnership with the administration group. At this point in time, no deal has been signed, but we are moving forward.”
The four other Lib Dem councillors are Graham Hardie, Paul Kennedy, Ross Moreland and William Sinclair.
TALIG’s leader, Conservative Councillor Yvonne McNeilly said: “The TALIG group will be a very strong and competent opposition. The administration has...only a couple of former TALIG members with any depth of understanding of running a council.
“I have wished Councillor Lynch well and best wishes, but he has a tough job on his hands keeping any form of group cohesion with so many differing views in his tent.
“I hope the non-SNP members understand their actual new boss running the show is Humza Yousaf. I hope Jim enjoys cat-herding.”
Independent Councillor Alastair Redman hit out at the Lib Dems for their decision to leave TALIG, saying: "The Lib Dems have become SNP coat-tailers, nothing more. How Alan Reid and Alex Cole-Hamilton can now claim to be fighting for our union in the next UK election is beyond me."
Alan Reid, Lib Dem candidate for the Argyll, Bute and South Lochaber seat, told us: "Obviously deciding control of the council every six months by cutting cards would be a silly way of doing business. It is essential for the wellbeing of Argyll and Bute that a stable administration be formed. That is why the Liberal Democrat councillors are talking to the SNP councillors about working with the council’s new administration."
A Scottish Liberal Democrat spokesperson added: “Scottish Liberal Democrats trust our councillors to decide on how their local authorities should be run and to do what’s best for their communities."
Meanwhile a spokesperson for Scottish Labour told us: “Councillor Howard is not part of any formal coalition in Argyll and Bute and is not part of the council administration.”
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