THE new leadership at Scotland’s biggest council must “relentlessly engage” with those shut out of the authority to make a break with the past, the SNP’s former chief spin doctor said.

Kevin Pringle was the key advisor to Alex Salmond when the party first took over at Holyrood in 2007 and had a crucial role in quickly stamping an SNP identity onto the then Scottish Executive.

With the SNP now taking the reins at Glasgow City Council for the first time, Mr Pringle said it was vital for the new administration to mark a cultural shift in the style of politics at the authority.

Now a partner at a high-profile public relations firm, Mr Pringle also said the expected SNP could benefit in terms of public perceptions by operating as minority administration.

His comments come after a weekend of talks at the council between its chief executive Annmarie O’Donnell and its leader-in-waiting Susan Aitken over the latter’s plans for when in control.

It came as the SNP’s 39 councillors met in the City Chambers to discuss their agenda for the months ahead, with Ms Aitken stating she would put in place a ‘first 100 days’ strategy to create a break with the previous Labour regime.

In an interview today with The Herald’s sister paper, the Evening Times, Ms Aitken said her first priorities would be to rejoin local government umbrella body Cosla, resolve the prolonged dispute with school janitors and deal with the thorny issue of equal pay claims.

She also called for Labour to be “constructive” rather than obstructive in its first term in opposition in Glasgow since the mid-1970s and of her pride in the cultural and ethnic diversity of those elected to the city council last Friday.

The authority’s senior management team also met yesterday over the implications of the unprecedented political change at the council, with a significant presence of Tories and Greens now in Glasgow and no party in overall control for the first time in near 40 years.

There was no sign over the weekend of any formal deal between the SNP and Greens, which would deliver an overall majority, while the change at the top will also see the political make-up of organisations such as transport quango SPT also overhauled.

The SNP changed the name of the Executive to the Scottish Government four months after taking control in 2007 but Mr Pringle said the strategy of opening doors was more significant in marking the political change.

He said: “The thing that struck me in 2007 was that we really went out there and opened the doors to everyone. We wanted to create that breath of fresh air, especially for those who had had no dialogue with the previous Lib/Lab Executive. That was key.

“It had been a stale administration for some time and that seems to have very much been the case with the previous administration at Glasgow City Council. People may not have had that good an opinion of the previous council, so a new administration having that dialogue makes people feel more positive about the council and those now in charge.

“It’s about making a big point of having direct contact with organisations and interest groups, being as accessible as possible, and indicating that cultural shift in the governance of Glasgow. You can change perceptions by developing that different culture. To filter this down further is the job of the councillors; take the cue from the administration and relentlessly engage at all levels.”

He added: “I wouldn’t be worried about being a minority administration, on the contrary. You can’t just govern through strength of numbers, and that sense that you are doing things differently, of reaching out to opponents, sends out a very positive signal.”

Meanwhile, Patrick Harvie Green MSP for Glasgow and party co-convenor said any negotiations with the SNP about a deal on the city council would be done at a local level.