On Thursday morning, worried SNP councillors saw their record 15 years at the head of East Ayrshire Council come under threat, believing that Labour were set to push for control of the council.
By lunchtime the expected move by Labour had collapsed and the SNP had not only managed to return Provost Jim Todd and Depute Provost Claire Leitch, less than a year after they were ousted, but had seen councillor Douglas Reid returned as leader unopposed.
Cllr Reid believed other parties had been in talks about backing a Labour administration and said his efforts to negotiate had been continually rebuffed.
But the pendulum apparently swung in the other direction quickly with the Provost Todd and Depute Provost Leitch regaining their previous roles.
They had been opposed by nominations of Conservative James Adams for Provost and Labour’s June Kyle for Depute Provost, but a united front from Labour and Conservatives was absent.
And it led to the unopposed election of Councillor Reid as Leader.
It was the ‘one of the most eventful’ days Cllr Reid had seen during his three decades as a councillor.
“It was some day,” said the Kilmarnock West and Crosshouse Councillor.
“We just tried to negotiate as best we could with the other two parties.
“We tried our best to engage with them and find common ground where we could. But it was quite obvious that some negotiations were taking place between the other parties.
“All that seemed to unravel as the day progressed.
“We played it with a straight bat as they say and approached all of the members to see if we could work together for the sake of the community.
“We know there are tough times ahead and we had worked well on the budget together.
“We had achieved things other local authorities hadn’t and they asked how we managed it. It was down to co-operation and we were looking to do that.
“That includes the creation of 200 apprenticeships over two years. It is something I am particularly proud of and I was happy to share a platform with them on it. ”
Despite the lead up the vote, Cllr Reid said the SNP administration would be trying to engage with all councillors over the next term.
He said: “We will keep fighting for our communities, keep an open door and try and play it fair.
“I tried to keep as many people together and show that we value all 32 members of the council. They’ve all got a role to play.
“While we have all got opinions, let’s get these out in the open and discuss these issues properly.”
While Scottish Labour had told councillors that there could be no coalitions, the Leader said that there had been few diktats from SNP headquarters.
He said: “Other than no coalitions with the Conservatives I had no interventions from party headquarters.
“If all this division comes down to petty party politics we won’t get things done.”
“The priorities of the administration will be to work to address the cost of living crisis and find ways for communities to lead on the policies and projects that affect them.
“One of things we are seeking to do is to look at localities and local decision bodies and how we can improve networking with them.
“We’ve engaged with some of smaller communities, such as Darvel and New Cumnock and can see what they have been able to achieve.”
The newly formed administration and roles:
- Councillor Douglas Reid, Leader of the Council; Covid Recovery, Strategic Planning, Community Wealth Building and Regeneration
- Councillor Jim McMahon, Depute Leader of the Council and Housing, Welfare and Poverty, Social Care, Mental Wellbeing and Addiction and Recovery
- Councillor Neal Ingram – Community Safety, Roads and Transportation and Community Cohesion
- Councillor Iain Linton – Finance and Digital
- Councillor Clare Maitland – Planning, Human Resources and Property
- Councillor Elaine Cowan – Lifelong Learning, Education and Skills and Culture
- Councillor Graham Barton – Children and Young People, Net Zero, Environment, Climate Change and Equalities and Inclusion
- Councillor Drew Filson – Localities
Others represented on the Cabinet are:
- Councillor Maureen McKay, Leader of the Labour Opposition Group
- Councillor Barry Douglas, Depute Leader of the Labour Opposition Group
- Councillor John McFadzean, Leader of the Conservative Opposition Group
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