Neil’s in it for the long haul - Sue WSebber
What must be one of the longest by-election campaigns in political history comes to an end tomorrow when the council Colinton/Fairmilehead result is announced, six months after it was first called.
Readers may recall the first election turned out to be a waste of time and public money because the Lib Dem winner quit after less than a week because she was moving abroad, a little detail she forgot to mention when campaigning as a so-called local champion.
Two seats are up for grabs because the former SNP councillor for the area, Marco Biagi, also walked off long before his term was up, with two-and-a-half years still to go, and I’m very much hoping that Neil Cuthbert will be rewarded for his determination after two previous disappointments.
I don’t think it matters if councillors don’t live in the ward they are seeking to represent, but seeing as the cynical Lib Dems made it an election issue, Neil does live in the area and has done for many years.
With the Lib Dems refusing to step up to the plate to replace Labour as the party of administration and Labour’s brief tenure rocked by recent scandal and the resignation of Cammy Day, Neil should be the natural choice for those opposed to the ideology offered by the SNP and Green groups.