Stirling East councillor Chris Kane has been elected as Stirling Council's new leader as the first meeting of the local authority following the local elections takes place today (Thurdsay).
The Stirling Labour leader was elected by a majority vote, while the post of deputy leader will also be filled by a Labour councillor, with veteran representative Margaret Brisley taking on the role.
Meanwhile, in the first signs of the new Labour minority administration - which has been backed by the Conservatives - taking shape, Tory councillor Douglas Dodds has been chosen as Stirling's new provost.
The ward member for Dunblane and Bridge of Allan was elected into the position after councillors voted at Stirling Council's Old Viewforth headquarters.
Councillor Dodds was appointed provost after securing 13 votes in favour of the move, coming from the seven Tory and six Labour councillors.
There were nine votes against, from the eight SNP members and independent councillor Alasdair Macpherson.
There was one abstention from Green councillor Alasdair Tollemache.
On Wednesday, we told how the council looks set to be heading for a Labour minority administration after the party gained backing from the Tories.
The previous council administration was SNP/Labour but Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar made clear that no such partnerships would be repeated following the recent election.
Councillor Kane insisted that, while following talks the Conservatives appeared to have agreed to side with Labour to get them over the line, the negotiations had not strayed into policy decisions and that he had reached out to all parties.
“As a minority administration, we know that the SNP and Conservative Groups can vote together against Labour policies,” he said.
“Issue by issue, Labour councillors have to find common ground with all elected members. We must work hard and we must work with respect.
“On Thursday, the council meets for the first time to appoint councillors to the many committees, public bodies, external organisations and boards we are required to serve on.
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“There are 170 positions to be filled.
“A minority Labour administration will consist of six Labour councillors. We must prioritise.
“In the new spirit of finding common ground, we have this week reached out to all councillors to offer the opportunity to serve Stirling in a meaningful way.
“We spoke with the SNP Group about nominating a provost and they declined. We spoke with the Conservative Group and they agreed.
“We have offered the deputy provost role to Green councillor Tollemache and await his answer. We have met with Councillor MacPherson and want to find a way to work with him and look forward to hearing his ideas.”
Councillor Kane said he wanted to be “crystal clear” that all political leadership positions would be filled by Labour including himself as council leader and veteran councillor Margaret Brisley as depute leader, along with convenership of all decision- making committees - finance and economy, community planning and regeneration, environment and housing, and children and young people.
But he added that they had offered to support the election of SNP and Conservative convenors to positions such as the public safety committee and planning panel.
- See Friday's Stirling Observer for more from the meeting.
