Edinburgh council: SNP and Greens consider motion of no confidence in Labour administration

And the city’s Lib Dems - who won a surprise victory in the by-election at Colinton/Fairmilehead last week - are also facing questions about why they are not challenging Labour for power or at least demanding significant roles in the administration.

Edinburgh's Labour administration now has just 11 out of the 63 seats on the council | Getty Images/iStockphoto

The Lib Dem group has begun internal discussions about its next step, but has not so far come to any conclusion on what they plan to do. Group leader Kevin Lang said they had agreed more discussion was needed.

The SNP is the biggest party on the council with 17 seats - one down since councillor Marco Biagi resigned after being appointed a Scottish Government special adviser. The Lib Dems, boosted by the by-election victory, now have 14 seats, with Labour on 11, the Greens 10, Conservatives nine and there is one independent.

Both the SNP and the Greens said they were considering tabling a motion of no confidence in council leader Cammy Day and his Labour administration.

SNP group leader Simita Kumar said: “Councillor Day has 11 out of 63 councillors - the word ‘super-minority’ has been tossed around.

“The Liberal Democrats and Cllr Lang have been really fighting for more councillors and they have achieved that, which is great for them, and the question now is: Is he more comfortable being on the sidelines and not being in the centrefold - and if so, why not? He has a great opportunity here - why is he not having discussions about taking that forward?

“But also, how can Cllr Day justify continuing to be leader with a group of only 11 councillors? He must be feeling the pressure. What we need at the moment is strong leadership and that's what we will be asking for.”

Before the 2022 council elections, the SNP and Labour ran the city as a coalition, but Scottish Labour leaders blocked any attempt to renew the deal after the election. That left the SNP and Greens as the favourites to form an administration, but they were outmanoeuvred by Labour, who secured Labour and Tory votes to allow them to take control.

Cllr Kumar - who took over the SNP group leadership earlier this year - said: “The SNP and the Greens had a coalition agreement we presented to the council and we were voted down by the three other parties.  The ball is in their court about what they would like to do next.  I have asked for Cllr Day to step aside or at least for a much more formal coalition.”

She said she would be seeking conversations with all the group leaders at the City Chambers. “One of the things I said when I was elected SNP group leader was that I'm willing to work across all the parties where our values and principles align.

“I'm not saying we will definitely bring a vote of no confidence but that’s certainly a conversation we are having internally.”

Edinburgh Green group co-convener Susan Rae confirmed they were also considering a motion of no confidence.

She said: “Following Labour’s latest brutal by-election loss, questions are rightly being asked about the credibility of the third-placed party, who hold less than a fifth of seats across the council, continuing to lead the administration - even if in name only.

“Edinburgh needs strong leadership to tackle the crucial issues that matter deeply to people - the ongoing cost of living crisis, deepening inequality, and the housing and climate emergencies.

“The current administration, backed by Lib Dem and Tory votes, has not proven itself able to provide that leadership, nor offer the radical solutions we need.

“The Green group are actively considering a motion of no confidence in this administration, but our discussion will, as always, be guided by what is best for the city.”

The next full council meeting, when any motion of no confidence is likely to materialise, is not until December 19.