Interesting numbers game for next year’s city council elections - Steve Cardownie
Ian Swanson’s article in yesterday’s Evening News made for very interesting reading. Under the headline “What May 7 results could mean for Capital council elections 2027” Ian explored the options that may be available for those city political parties that will be vying for power in Edinburgh in May next year.
As a former leader of the SNP group on the council I was charged with the responsibility of reaching an agreement with a larger political group on the council to collectively form the administration.
I first successfully convinced the Lib Dems that we should form a coalition together, despite the then Labour group thinking that such an agreement between them and the Lib Dems “was in the bag.”
After a rocky start that coalition saw out the full term of the council which was five years.
Come the next council elections and I found myself in a similar position, only this time I had to negotiate with the larger Labour group and convince them that a coalition with the SNP group was in the best interests of the city. I successfully concluded a deal and that Labour/SNP coalition formed the city administration which also lasted five years.
The central point of my argument was that although the SNP was a Scottish independence party and those other two groups were not, that policy had little significance when it came down to dealing with local matters. It was a national policy matter not a local one and should not prevent the groups from forming a coalition which would benefit the city.
In his article Ian sounded out the views of the respective parties on which group they were more likely to form a coalition with. It came as no surprise that the only parties that look likely to be left out in the cold were the Conservatives and Reform.
All other options were up for discussion, and it will obviously come down to a numbers game. Which two parties will have enough councillors to form a majority and if no two parties have enough, can three settle their differences and form an administration?
Time will tell!