SCOTTISH Labour's only councillors to defy the party leader's ban on coalitions are safe from action for now.
The National understands no action will be taken against the Dumfries and Galloway Labour group despite Anas Sarwar’s stated opposition to coalitions.
Led by Linda Dorward, the local Labour branch in the south-west of Scotland have struck a deal with the SNP which is said to be “temporary” and therefore not yet in breach of the hardline coalition ban the party leader pledged before the local elections earlier this month.
Should the deal become permanent, it is understood the group could be hauled before party officials and risk the threat of expulsion or disciplinary action.
Dorward was appointed council co-leader alongside the SNP’s Stephen Thompson to head the local authority.
But Labour could back out of this at any moment and attempt to form a minority administration – though this would need to rely on Conservative votes, as the party did in Edinburgh earlier this week.
The Labour-SNP deal in Dumfries and Galloway currently enjoys the support of the group of independents on the council, headed by LibDem Richard Brodie.
The so-called Aberdeen Nine were expelled from Labour following the 2017 local elections when they formed a coalition with the Conservatives to control the city.
It comes after Labour gained minority control of other local authorities with the help of votes from Tory councillors determined to keep the SNP out of power.
In a joint statement, Dorward, Thompson and Brodie pledged to run an administration “built on mutual trust and understanding”.
It read: “We are confident we can work inclusively with all elected members from all groups to the benefit of the region.
"We are engaging in a way that does politics differently and have found a way to agree on what's best for local communities, whilst going forward and seeking consensus on a case-by-case basis, with colleagues.
"Despite our political differences, we will work jointly on what really matters to the people in all our communities across our region."
Despite being returned as the largest party, the Conservatives have been unable to take power in Dumfries and Galloway and one councillor in the group slammed the coalition arrangement as “anti-democratic”.
