New group formed at Dumfries and Galloway Council

The fallout from the change of council administration has resulted in a new group being formed.

Councillors Willie Scobie, Dougie Campbell and Iain Howie have quit the independent group.

They have now formed a new group called the Democratic Alliance, which will not be aligned to any party.

Dee and Glenkens Councillor Campbell said: “Despite the invaluable, non-party political participation of independents as part of a rainbow alliance with Labour and SNP groups, the administration collapsed on February 28 due entirely to the dreadful actions of Labour councillors who chose to prioritise party political games rather than the people of Dumfries and Galloway.

“No brazen attempts by Labour can cover this up. Two members of the independent group chose to align with the Conservative administration and take up paid positions as committee chairs.

“That’s a matter entirely for them. However, this has resulted in the establishment of a new group of like-minded and truly independent councillors.

“We’ll always put our constituents first and won’t be aligned to any individual political party. There’s no doubt that party politics can harm local democracy, and I’ve witnessed this first hand in recent months however, Democratic Alliance will always call it out where we see it and seek to do the right thing for our constituents, irrespective of whether they voted for us.”

Castle Douglas and Crocketford representative, Councillor Howie, added: “The reason for establishing the new group is that we felt our credibility as independent councillors was compromised by close association with any political party.

“We learnt to our cost that party politics will always take precedence over local issues which would prevent us acting in the best interests of our constituents.”