Edinburgh council Labour group chooses new leader to replace Cammy Day

Sources say the favourite to take over is housing convener Jane Meagher, who would then become the party’s nominee for council leader - even though she is currently visiting her family in Tanzania and is not expected to be at the full council meeting on Thursday, when the decision on the post is due to be taken.

Transport convener Stephen Jenkinson has been mentioned as another potential new Labour leader but he has told friends he does not want the job. The current acting leader Mandy Watt is understood not to be interested in the permanent role.

Housing convener Jane Meagher is tipped as the favourite to replace Cammy Day

Insiders said two other councillors were likely to put their names forward - Deputy Lord Provost Lezley Marion Cameron and Leith councillor Katrina Faccenda - but neither was expected to get enough votes to defeat Cllr Meagher.

Labour took power as a minority administration following the 2022 council elections thanks to support from the Lib Dems and the Tories, defeating a rival bid by an SNP-Green coalition.

But there has been speculation that with just 10 out of the 63 councillors, Labour could now be challenged for control of the council by the Lib Dems, who have 13 seats. But it is not clear if the Lib Dems do plan to mount such a power bid.

And one senior Labour insider complained the Lib Dems seemed more interested in trying to influence Labour’s choice of leader. Lib Dem councillors are said to have been contacting members of the Labour group to tell them which candidates they favour.

The Labour insider said: “Lib Dems should stop meddling and either stand up or shut up. If they want to take control of the council they should take control of the council, not try to influence who else should be running the council.

“I think the Lib Dems have taken a decision that they will not try to take control of the council, but would be happy to support the Labour group, but only if the leader of the Labour group - and therefore leader of the council - was acceptable to them.”

The insider said the Lib Dems had identified Jane Meagher, Stephen Jenkinson and planning convener James Dalgleish as people they and the Tories would be ready to work with as leader, but were warning any other leader might mean they could not work with Labour.

Cllr Dalgleish is said not to be planning to put his name forward.

The SNP, as the biggest group on the council with 17 seats, is expected to nominate its leader Simita Kumar for the council leadership on Thursday and she is expected to get the support of the Greens, but no two parties have enough councillors to make up a majority.

Cllr Day resigned on Monday following the allegations that he sent unsolicited messages to Ukrainian refugees. He did not comment on the allegations in his resignation statement, but said he was standing down because the publicity was detracting from the work of the council.