Edinburgh council: Labour looks set to retain power as minority administration after resignation of Cammy Day

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Liberal Democrats look set to back Labour to stay in charge of Edinburgh council in a crunch vote on Thursday.

The Labour group elected housing convener Jane Meagher as its new leader on Sunday night following the resignation of Cammy Day after it was revealed last week that police are investigating him over allegations of "inappropriate behaviour".

Cllr Meagher will now be nominated for the role of council leader at a meeting of the full council on Thursday.

Councillor Jane MeagherCouncillor Jane Meagher
Councillor Jane Meagher

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The council's Lib Dem group had been considering bidding to form the administration instead of Labour, but it is understood they are not now planning to do so.

Labour has been in charge of the Capital as a minority administration since the last council elections in May 2022 when Lib Dem and Tory councillors helped vote them into power.

But after Cllr Day's suspension from the party, Labour now has only 10 councillors out of 63, while the SNP has 17, the Lib Dems 13, the Greens 10, Tories nine and there are two independents and two vacancies.

The Lib Dems held a group meeting on Sunday night and afterwards group leader Kevin Lang said: “I want to congratulate Jane Meagher on her election as Labour’s new group leader. Thanks are also due to Mandy Watt who stepped up in what I know was an incredibly difficult set of circumstances.

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“Looking ahead, the Liberal Democrat group think it’s important to provide stability at the council, especially as we look to agree a new budget.

“We’ve worked well with Jane Meagher in the past, particularly on tackling Edinburgh’s housing emergency. So we are looking forward to hearing more from Jane on her plans and priorities ahead of Thursday’s council meeting.”

A source said the idea of a Lib Dem bid for control of the council was not discussed at the meeting.

The Conservatives are due to hold a group meeting tonight to discuss their position. But if both the Lib Dems and the Tories vote with Labour for Cllr Meagher to become the new council leader, the administration will be able to carry on.

The SNP is expected to nominate its leader Simita Kumar for council leader and she will likely also be backed by the Greens, but their numbers are not enough to win unless another party abstains.

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