Labour blocks SNP control of Edinburgh

Forming an administration has been postponed until the next council meeting scheduled for June 29.

Nationalists had planned to nominate a slate of their own councillors to take the committee convenerships at the City Chambers on the understanding it was a temporary arrangement in the hope of an SNP-Labour coalition being formed after the general election.

But they abandoned the proposal in the face of a joint motion from Labour, the Greens and Lib Dems to leave the posts vacant until a review of the council’s committee structure is carried out.

The Conservatives proposed their own alternative plan - a 13-member all party “executive committee” of four SNP, four Tory, two Labour, two Green and one Lib Dem councillors to run the city for the time being.

The council voted by 43 to 17 in favour of the Labour-Green-Lib Dem plan, which also gave the go-ahead for the appointment of key committees to take decisions on planning and licensing and also the health and social care joint board.

The SNP is now the biggest party on the council with 19 seats, the Tories have 18, Labour 12, Greens eight and Lib Dems six.

The Labour and SNP groups have agreed to form a coalition, but the move is awaiting approval from Labour at national level.