Voters in East Renfrewshire went to the polls today to elect their councillors for the next five years.
Polling stations across the area opened at 7am, with residents able to cast their vote until 10pm.
No party can secure a majority in East Renfrewshire as they aren’t standing enough candidates. An SNP and Labour coalition, joined by independent Danny Devlin, has controlled the council for the last two terms.
READ MORE: Scotland local elections 2022 LIVE updates
The state of the roads in the area was the main concern raised by voters attending the polling station at St Ninian’s High School in Giffnock.
Local resident William Jamieson said it was a “great place to live” but criticised the road network. “The roads are shocking, absolutely shocking,” he said. “Bin collections are alright, everything else is alright, just the roads.
“We don’t have any interaction with local services really, other than the roads and the bins.”
Asked what the key issue was for him, another voter, Scott Mckay, said: “The roads are the main one for me. They are reported all the time and nothing happens.”
One man said the overspends and delays following the Scottish Government’s decision to award a ferries contract to Ferguson Marine were on his mind when voting.
While a woman said she was concerned by “the financial impact at the moment, with energy prices and things like that”. “That’s a huge worry, a lot of people are struggling. You’re choosing between heating and eating.”
She added the state of the roads were also a concern for her.
The Conservatives have put forward the most candidates in East Renfrewshire, with eight, while the SNP has seven, including Tony Buchanan who has been the council leader for the last five years. Labour is standing five candidates, the Greens also have five and Alba has four.
The SNP has said the choice is between “Boris Johnson’s Tories, who partied while we made sacrifices in lockdown, or the SNP delivering for East Renfrewshire”. Buchanan said his party is on the side of hard-working families during the cost of living crisis.
However, the Conservatives believe the SNP and Labour have “badly let down” East Renfrewshire. They promised to deal with potholes and stand up to budget cuts from the Scottish Government.
Labour also wants to help families struggling due to the cost of living crisis and said people are “fed up” of both Boris Johnson and Nicola Sturgeon.
Votes in East Renfrewshire will be counted throughout tomorrow, with final declarations expected to be made in the late afternoon.
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