Rival says Lib Dems left ‘in disarray’ after voting woe

One of the political groups running Edinburgh is in “disarray”, according to the leader of the city’s opposition.

Councillor Andrew Burns, leader of the Labour group at the City Chambers, made the comments about the Liberal Democrats after the group’s chairman announced he does not intend to seek re-election next May.

The Lib Dems have also seen one member, Elaine Morris, defect to coalition partner the SNP, and last week they suffered a heavy defeat in the by-election for the city centre ward.

On his online blog, Cllr Burns said: “For the local Lib Dems, it’s all a grim picture: their vote just went from 20 per cent to seven per cent; they were ‘first elected’ in 2007 and ‘first rejected’ in 2011; one of their councillors has already defected and there are now only 16 of them left; six of those 16 have now publicly announced that they are not standing again.

“Frankly, they are in total disarray.”