An elected mayor could be the solution to the city’s problems - Susan Dalgety

There are behind-the-scenes talks to work out who will be in control at the City Chambers

It doesn’t matter who they choose as their candidate for leader, whether it is the low-key housing convener Jane Meagher who is the bookie’s favourite. Or new transport chief, Stephen Jenkinson, who seemed keen on the job but has now gone off the idea.

Or even Lezley Cameron, Labour’s most experienced councillor, and a safe pair of hands. The numbers just don’t stack up. There are only nine Scottish Labour councillors now that Day has been suspended, plus Councillor Margaret Graham who describes herself as a Labour and Co-operative Party representative, and she has already speculated on social media that the ten Scottish Green councillors could “step up and form a rainbow coalition” but doesn’t suggest with whom.

Even with Councillor Graham on board, a 10-strong Labour group running a minority council is simply not democratic. The council has 63 councillors, with the SNP holding 17 seats, the Liberal Democrats with 13 and the Tories on nine. There are two vacancies, thanks to SNP bigwig Marco Biagi deserting the City Chambers for Bute House recently for a job as special adviser to John Swinney and the shock resignation of Lib Dem councillor Louise Spence.

Her bizarre political career lasted only a week following her by-election win last month. But even in the unlikely event of Scottish Labour winning one of the seats in the Colinton-Fairmilehead by-election next month, they don’t have the numbers, or crucially the support, to continue as an authoritative administration.

But does anyone? Councillor Day’s resignation, in the wake of disturbing allegations, has exposed the unusual make-up of the council. No single party can run the city without the support of at least two others. Until Councillor Day’s resignation, Labour depended on the Lib Dems and Tories to stay in power. The SNP would need the Greens, the Lib Dems and even Labour to be able to function properly. The nine Tory councillors are unlikely to rustle up enough support to take over. The outlook is, as one Conservative source said a few days ago, “pretty bleak”.

There is a suggestion that all the parties could get together and share the committee roles between them, and that a unifying figure, perhaps a councillor who is not already a group leader, is chosen to lead this unusual coalition. The idea is not as daft as it sounds.

What Edinburgh needs now is a strong administration that puts the needs of the city first before any party allegiance.

Recent events have just confirmed what I have argued for years now. Scotland’s Capital city needs an elected mayor, someone chosen on a personal manifesto to run the city for a five-year term. In the meantime, we long suffering citizens can only hope that the current crop of councillors are prepared to set aside their partisan squabbles and put their city first. We will find out on Thursday. I am not overly optimistic.