For the first time since 2022, the SNP have returned to the administration of Stirling Council and for the first time in Stirling’s history, Labour are not a part of the administration.
Working alongside the Greens and an independent, the SNP successfully ousted the Labour minority administration, a move that seemed all but inevitable following Josh Fyvie’s victory at the Stirling East by-election.
Despite this, it took two meetings to oust the administration, which seems to have been because of the Conservative Lord Provost’s unwillingness to resign.
Regardless of this slight hiccup in securing the administration, the SNP are now in control and has laid out its vision for the future of Stirling Council.
Top of the agenda appears to be addressing the Housing crisis. The SNP have formed a new committee led by Councillor Willie Ferguson dedicated to tackling the issue.
It’s unclear, however, where the already financially struggling Council will find the money to address one of the most complicated and expensive issues in the country.
There’s been little communication from the SNP directly, but we can also work out what the administration may look like from the concessions it has had to give to the Greens and Independents.
These have all been made public, perhaps to contrast the previous Labour minority administration, which Councillor Gerry McLaughlin describes as having been “patched together in back rooms and never disclosed”.
Independent Councillor Alasdair Macpherson had a long list of demands, mostly involving things such as a law centre, the restoration of Hogmanay events and a potential thermal energy plant in Bannockburn to combat fuel poverty.
Councillor MacPherson is certainly a name to watch in the upcoming administration. Despite ostensibly being a part of the administration, he has made his separation from them very clear.
‘I ruled out a coalition with the SNP from the outset as my Independent status was not up for grabs’, he said on his website, while also saying that he ‘could never share power with’ the Greens, with whom the SNP recently signed a deal.
Councillor MacPherson was a long-term member of the SNP but left under unclear circumstances in 2022. It was alleged that he plotted to bring down the then SNP and Labour administration.
With the SNP administration depending on Councillor MacPherson’s vote and considering their uneasy history in the past, it remains to be seen whether this new administration will have the security it needs for its ambitious agendas or will fall into a deadlock similar to the previous Labour minority.
Brig approached SNP councillors Josh Fyvie and Susan McGill for comment, but has not yet received a reply.
Featured Image Credit: Brig Newspaper
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