New Glasgow council leader George Redmond has insisted a family medical emergency in Seville forced him to miss his flight home from Rangers Europa League final defeat.
Labour's Cllr Redmond joined the first council meeting of the new term remotely, meaning he wasn’t in the city chambers despite being put forward for council leader – a vote he lost to SNP Cllr Susan Aitken by 46 votes to 35.
After the meeting the SNP said that Cllr Redmond, who was only elected as Labour group leader on Monday, had shown “his responsibilities to his constituents, to his group and to the city are ditched the instant he has a better offer”.
