SCOTLAND'S first Jeremy Corbyn-supporting council leader has been installed, as Labour finalised its move to oust the SNP from Nicola Sturgeon's home patch.
Joe Cullinane, at 30 also understood to be the youngest leader in Scots local government, took the reigns at North Ayrshire Council on Tuesday after a recent by-election victory made Labour the majority party at the authority.
Mr Cullinane is the son of leading figure in Unite Jackson Cullinane and is one of the most prominent supporters of Corbyn north of the border.
He became leader after weeks of turmoil triggered by the by-election defeat of the First Minister's father Robin Sturgeon and subsequent mass resignation of the SNP when it lost its majority.
They quit from the administration amid speculation Labour would move to topple the SNP, which included Ms Sturgeon's mother Joan as Provost.
Amid the chaos Labour changed leader with the veteran Peter McNamara stepping down to make way for Mr Cullinane, while one SNP councillor, John Bruce, claimed he had not resigned and asked council lawyers to look at his position.
Last night Mr Cullinane said: “I am proud and honoured to be the new leader of North Ayrshire Council and can assure everyone I will work tirelessly for the people of North Ayrshire.
“I am extremely ambitious and my focus will be on creating jobs, building our economy, providing our young people with the education and skills to succeed and ensuring that the most disadvantaged are given every support and opportunity possible.
“The last couple of weeks have been an unsettling period for everyone so I’m delighted that the situation has been resolved and we can all get back to the serious business of running the council effectively and efficiently for the people of North Ayrshire.”
Party colleague Ian Clarkson, who replaced Mrs Sturgeon as Provost, said: “The role of Provost is a privileged position and I intend to carry out my duties with pride and enthusiasm.
“I would also like to take this opportunity to thank my predecessor, Joan Sturgeon who has been a great ambassador for the area, particularly through her charity work.”
Mr Cullinane became leader as it emerges North Ayrshire's sole Tory said Labour's by-election victory showed "Better Together lives on".
Tom Marshall said the majority of the Conservative vote went to Labour in the Irvine West earlier this month.
The Largs councillor told a local newspaper: The Labour candidate only won at the final stage when the majority of the Conservative vote was transferred to Labour so defeating the SNP - good to see that Better Together lives on!"
Meanwhile, the new administration means the SNP must elected a new council leader to represent the party on Scotland's main local government body.
Mr Cullinane's predecessor as head of North Ayrshire, Willie Gibson, was also the SNP leader on Cosla. However party protocol requires a council leader to hold the position.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel