The inside story of the battle for control of Edinburgh

The Herald Scotland

2 days ago

There might still have been a second Colinton by-election, because the SNP's Marco Biagi would probably still have left when appointed a government special adviser, and without the Spence controversy the Lib Dems would have won that too, giving them 16 seats.
But even with 14, the Lib Dems are in pole position at the head of an informal Stop-the-Nats-and-Crazy-Greens coalition which, with Conservative support, has until now kept the bedraggled Labour administration in place.
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Labour did surprisingly well, topping first preferences despite national chaos over welfare and winter fuel allowances, as well as bruising allegations of sexual harassment against former council group leader Cammy Day, for which police found no evidence of criminality.
While a move to make Cllr Day the new planning convener at the final council meeting before the summer recess was wisely shelved – it would have come immediately before the angry debate over former Scottish Information Commissioner Kevin Dunion's report about how complaints against him were handled – the issue of his fitness for a return to a senior position has not gone away.
The 11-strong Labour group – it would only have been ten had it not been for Ms Spence's resignation – is unstable because they cannot rely on Leith councillor Katrina Faccenda, already suspended once for voting against the whip, who has refused to accept Cllr Day's return after the end of his suspension.
The plan for Cllr Day to be appointed at the next meeting in August after things have settled down presumes all Lib Dem and Conservative councillors will vote in favour, but also if the Lib Dems stick with their previous position of turning down the opportunity to lead the administration. This increasingly looks untenable.
The Lib Dems can't continue to stand on a ticket of delivering better services, win the trust of voters and then refuse to take charge, ostensibly because too many of their councillors have other work commitments. Until now, the Conservative group has grudgingly accepted the situation to keep the SNP and their Green friends out of administration, which after the experience of 2017-22 is understandable.
Lib-Dems celebrate their surprise victory (Image: free) But the SNP is running out of steam locally and nationally – beaten into fourth in last week's by-election – and in what were once Conservative heartlands they do not present a threat.
Conversely, since the 2022 elections and all subsequent by-elections bar the unusual circumstances of the Colinton re-run in January, the Lib Dems are not just eating the Tories' lunch, but their breakfast and supper too, and Reform is taking home the leftovers in a doggy bag.
It is therefore not in the Conservative interest for the Lib Dems to continue evading responsibility for running the city and being held to the promises in their many election leaflets. The three Conservative councillors who were around in 2007 when the Lib Dems formed a coalition with the SNP will remember just how hard they found it, and five years later the 17 Lib Dem councillors were reduced to three.
But there are those in the Conservative group who cannot see past the old constitutional battle lines, failing to accept voters once prepared to lend them their support have moved on from prioritising the threat of independence.
No longer the main alternative to Labour or the Nationalists, Edinburgh Conservatives now face an existential threat from both left and right, yet it appears some councillors would rather not force the Lib Dems into administration and instead approve a £40,000 a year convenership for Cammy Day to keep the SNP out.
Like Cllr Faccenda, several Conservatives and Lib Dems have a significant problem with welcoming back Cllr Day as if nothing had happened, and the lack of any sign of contrition from the ex-leader has not helped. If not quite a full split, there is now a high chance of serious division in the Tory group, and as it stands if just four Conservatives oppose Cllr Day's appointment it will fail.
The obvious solution is for the Lib Dems to step up to the plate, and with the next full council meeting not till August 28 they have all summer to reach a decision, time they intend to take, with nothing ruled in or out, and that presumably includes some being prepared to reduce their other commitments.
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Labour won't give up a raft of convenerships and the accompanying responsibility payments – up to the £71,500 the leader Jane Meagher receives – without a fight, but they might have no option with a revived pact with the SNP ruled out by the national leadership. It's either that or letting the SNP lead a chaotic minority administration which will probably be unable to pass a budget.
But if the Conservatives are to survive as a council force in 2027, the Lib Dems need to be prised out of the same comfort zone enjoyed by the SNP at Holyrood for so long, of taking responsibility for nothing and credit for everything and making electoral gains across swathes of middle-class Edinburgh simply by not being the Conservatives.
It all seems such a long time since 2017 when the Conservatives took just short of 30 per cent of first preference votes and returned 18 councillors compared to just six Lib Dems, but that was before Partygate, Liz Truss and Reform.
It's the same situation across the country, and former Morningside councillor Mark McInnes, now Lord McInnes of Kilwinning and the UK Conservatives' newly appointed chief executive, has his work cut out.
John McLellan is a former Edinburgh Evening News and Scotsman editor. He served as a City of Edinburgh councillor for five years for the Conservatives. Brought up in Glasgow, McLellan has lived and worked in Edinburgh for 30 years