City leader’s made of stronger stuff than many of us believed

Supporters of Edinburgh Women's Aid protested outside the City Chambers before the council meeting last week

A few weeks ago, I was pretty harsh about our city’s new council leader, Jane Meagher. In particular, I criticised her decision to remain in Africa on a family holiday while the Labour group and the council was in crisis following the shock resignation of Councillor Cammy Day.

And I was scathing about the fact that during the debate about who should run the council, she had to be goaded into making a speech via Zoom in support of her own leadership bid.

“I am a consensus builder … willing to compromise,” she told her fellow councillors in an effort to win them over. Her low-key rhetoric didn’t impress anyone, but that didn’t matter. A deal between Labour, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats meant that she was elected leader, and for the next few years at least the fate of our wonderful city is now in her hands.

“I hope she is up to the task,” I wrote in this very column, more in hope than expectation. Well, my pessimism may have been misjudged, because last week Councillor Meagher showed she is made of stronger stuff than I, and I suggest many of her party colleagues, believed.

Minutes before last Thursday’s full council meeting, dressed in a red jacket and clutching a grainy picture of herself from nearly 50 years ago, she joined a group of women’s rights campaigners outside the city chambers. They were protesting against a mean-spirited motion by Scottish Green Councillor Alex Staniforth that called for a review of Edinburgh Women’s Aid’s funding because of their policy of providing women-only services.

What Councillor Staniforth hadn’t realised when he drafted his veiled threat is that Jane Meagher has been campaigning for women-only services since 1977. The photograph she held aloft was of her in almost the exact same spot 48 years ago, when she was amongst a group of young women demanding the then Edinburgh Corporation support refuges for “battered women”. Fast forward to 2025, and that young woman, now arguably the most powerful female in the city, wasn’t going to let a long-haired bloke dictate how the city supports women survivors of domestic violence.

So, my apologies to Councillor Meagher. Her understated style disguises a much more steely personality than her demeanour might suggest. In recent years, far too many Labour politicians have shied away from the debate about women’s rights for fear of upsetting trans activists. By joining the protest last week, she showed true political courage and confirmed that she is willing to stand up for what she believes in – a trait that should stand her in good stead as she settles into her new role.

And if she can bring the same grit and determination to discussions with the Scottish Government and others about tackling the city’s housing emergency, then we may start to see a council that delivers for the ordinary people of Edinburgh, and not before time.