Back to the drawing board for Colinton/Fairmilehead voters - Steve Cardownie

By-election victor Louise Spence surrounded by supporters celebrating her win before her abrupt resignation

Last week I wrote about their surprise victory in the previous week’s council by-election in the city’s Colinton/Fairmilehead ward.

But, before she had a chance to get her feet under the desk, we were informed that the newly elected councillor Louise Spence had resigned!

Having made much of her living locally in the ward (to the extent of producing a leaflet with a map showing where some other candidates lived) the day after the votes were in she put her house on the market and announced she was upping sticks and moving abroad.

Her resignation followed as a consequence and the Lib Dem Group’s short-lived increase in numbers was no more.

Her statement that “While it would have been legally possible for me to continue as a councillor, I don’t believe it would be right to do so with my focus elsewhere” gives substance to the view that she had indeed intended to try to carry out her duties as a councillor from outwith these shores, but the Lib Dem group were having none of it and forced her resignation.

Her emphatic victory over the Labour Party candidate prompted Councillor Simita Kumar, Leader of the SNP Group, to call on the Labour administration to demit office and is actively considering tabling a motion of no confidence if they refuse to do so.

Now, with SNP councillor Marco Biagi also tendering his resignation to take up a special adviser position with the Scottish Government, the good people of Colinton/ Fairmilehead will once again head to the polls early in the new year to elect two councillors to fill the vacancies.

It will be interesting to see if the Lib Dems can repeat their previous success, given the mess that they have created and whether Labour will persevere with the same candidate who was beaten last time round, with a total of 2055 votes to the Lib Dems’ 3751.

So, what now of the Lib Dem group? Having retired to lick their wounds it is extremely unlikely that they will seek to unseat the Labour administration and take over the reins of power for themselves.

Their group leader, Councillor Kevin Lang, appears to be reluctant to give up his day job to become a full-time council leader so it would seem that the only alternative would be for him to give up his group leader role to allow another member of his group to take over and then challenge for the position of council leader but I, for one, will not be holding my breath waiting for that to happen.

The possible return of an SNP administration is not something that looks likely as this potential prospect is the political glue that binds the Labour, Lib Dem and Consevative groups together and they will continue to pool their votes to deny the SNP that possibility.

So, it will be more of the same up in the High Street and Councillor Cammy Day can continue in his role as council leader at least until after the impending by- elections.

But it would also need a significant rethink of the various groups relationships for that to happen and there is no sign of that.