Why Edinburgh's Labour councillors should stick with their SNP coalition partners – Steve Cardownie

This coming year could well prove to be eventful for the SNP/Labour administration of the City of Edinburgh Council.

Although elections for that august body will not be held until May 2022, some members of the Labour group in particular will be weighing up their options as polling day approaches.

They may well take another stab at breaking up the arrangement in order to try to convince the electorate that they deserve their vote as a Labour Party free from the shackles of coalition.

However this view is flawed on several levels:

1, It is too little too late. Like it or lump it the Labour group has been the junior partner in the coalition for nearly four years and there is no disguising the fact; 2, Given SNP’s lead in the polls it doesn’t matter what they do – they are still unlikely to increase their representation on the council at the election; 3, They might be asked to form another coalition with the SNP once the votes have been cast as no party should secure an outright majority, so be wary of burning bridges; 4, Trying to ditch their partners in the lead-up to an election will be seen as nothing more than a cynical ploy, which will not cut any ice with the electorate.

So next year it will be business as usual in the City Chambers with the coalition ploughing ahead with its agenda, supported more often than not by their buddies in the Green group and no amount of hand wringing by two or three members of the Labour group will make any difference.

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