Face to Face: Lord Provost Eva Bolander 'Glasgow is like a phoenix bird'

The Swedish national first began visiting Scotland in the early 80s thanks to her love of bagpiping. "I had an interest in Scottish culture and Scottish life. [That interest came] by pure chance.

"I was about six or seven years old and I heard the bagpipes being played and it made an impression on me, I loved the sound of it and the whole spectacle of the band playing.

"So every year after that I used to look out for the Edinburgh Military Tattoo, which was given on Swedish television. And I'd think, 'It's autumn time, it should be on now.'

"Then when I was in secondary school there was a poster up saying you could learn to play pipes. I would never have thought I would have that opportunity there. I was very fortunate to have a good teacher who was an ex-Scots Guards piper."

Bolander would spend her summers in Scotland throughout the 80s and early 90s, and she met a man. She said: "In 95 we decided to give it a go and see how it would work out.

"Twenty-two years later I am still here but not with the same man."

Twenty-two years later not only is Bolander still here but she is now her adopted city's public face, Glasgow's global representative. What makes her achievement all the more successful is the fact she only became involved in politics two years ago, being voted in as SNP councillor for Anderston/City ward in 2015. Bolander said: "I see [being Swedish and being new to politics] as a positive. I am not a part of any old affiliations or networks. I can come in as a newcomer and neutral to any situation in that respect.

"I was a baillie for two years so that gave me an insight into what this role means in a small way.

“I really do want to represent all of Glasgow, no matter what political affiliation, religion, creed, faith.

“Glasgow is a fantastic city and has been enormously welcoming to me. Not just in my short time as Lord Provost but in my whole time here and my involvement in Scottish culture and Scottish life.”

Her route into politics shows that if Bolander is anything, she is adaptable. The bagpipes were a passion but never a career option for the Swede, who studied archaeology at university in Stockholm and worked at the Museum of National Antiquities. She never finished her degree because she was already working in the job she wanted.

On moving to Scotland she then worked for a private company in training and leadership management.

Bolander studied for a business qualification and then, spotting early on that video would be the future of websites, completed a multi-media course before working for John Wheatley College on its Pathfinder community website supporting learning in the north east of Glasgow.

The mother-of-two said: “I’m well in my 50s and I now have the chance to try a new career. I am very fortunate in that."

It was when her daughter was born in 1997 that Bolander first began thinking of politics. She said: "People were talking very much of the Scandinavian culture where you breastfeed for longer and you're home with them for the first year. And people were very putting that down to the culture.

"But it's actually political decisions that gave the mother the chance to be home for the first year.

"Of course it's much easier for someone to breastfeed a child for a lengthy period then, than if you have to go back to work.

"And the other political decision that was taken was in regards to childcare. As you know, there is universal childcare in Sweden and that's made it so much more easier for women to take part in family life and have a career. And I think those things here in the UK, in Scotland, haven't quite got to that point yet.

"We are making lots of progress there, but the Scandinavian model of childcare actually frees up lots of intelligent women to be part of society and to help evolve society and to be full participants in life as well as the workforce.

"That is why I started to get politically engaged, realising there are so many things which affect us. That has been now one of the harder things to do now, refraining from political comments because it's what I had become so used to doing."

In her new role as Lord Provost, Bolander intends to focus on communities and equalities. She says it is a privilege to meet and to champion the people who work behind the scenes in Glasgow making the city's communities tick. She is also part of the Lean In group at the council, supporting women.

Bolander said: "I find it fascinating because as a young woman I never defined myself as a feminist but I worked in some male dominated areas and had to battle against things.

"But I find the older I have got and the more I see the differences following child bearing - what difference it makes for women - the older I get the more I see the differences between how men and women have fared in society, such as economically, and I think that is something that is hard to convey to younger women because when you are younger you don't see the differences as clearly as when you get older.

"If you look upon the rights of abortions and how we have to defend the women's rights in the way we thought 10 or 15 years ago that we would not have to defend them, you can see the battle is not won.

"So I'm very strong on equalities and when I can mentor or support other people then I will do that, as well as in any way try to support women to take part in civic and political life."

Glasgow, Bolander says, is "absolutely" now her home and she felt this keenly following a trip back to Sweden earlier this year when she felt the Scandinavian city to suddenly be less familiar to her.

Being an outside, she believes, is a helpful trait for her role as Lord Provost. Firstly, it shows the city to be welcoming and cosmopolitan in having a first citizen who was not born there.

She said: " I think the city is showing what's it's been doing for a very long time - showing an openness to EU nationals, an openness to foreign visitors. A welcome to people who want to come and live here and work here. People said to me, 'Oh, you want to come and live in our culture? You are so welcome.'

"And that is quite different from what a lot of people think about nationalist ideas and so on, and where you come from, you protect your own. But here it is so different: you want to welcome people to come and join in."

Secondly, her dual perspective of outsider and resident, gives her a fresh eye on the city. She added: "What struck me [the first time I came to Glasgow] was that you have areas of absolute poverty and then areas right next door that seem very affluent. That struck me as very odd.

"And it hasn't changed a lot in that time, we are still struggling with the poverty in certain areas. But that links back to helping communities understand that they can do things for themselves as well.

"It creates a positive spiral where people think, 'We can do things for ourselves, we don't have to sit and wait for someone to do it for us.'"

Becoming Lord Provost marks a new chapter for Bolander's working life as she is beginning a new chapter in her personal life. Bolander, who cites classical music ("I find it almost meditative"), rowing with the Glasgow Coastal Rowing Club and reading as her favourite pastimes, is waving off her younger child, her son, to university as her daughter, who is 20, studies in Maine, America, for a degree in Human Ecology and Liberal Arts. She said: "My daughter has been away for two years before this studying in Italy for the International Baccalaureate, which is indicative of our family - striking out and doing things internationally.

"My son wants to do aeronautical engineering, he's very interested in flying and doing the mechanical side of things and has been in Royal Air Force cadets."

Looking forward to her tenure as Lord Provost, Bolander says she wants to show the world Glasgow is more diverse than people might think.

She said: "I want them to know Glasgow is like a phoenix bird that has really come through and shines now in terms of culture and the creative industries.

"I think people still see Glasgow as the old industrial city who declined during the 80s but having seen Glasgow in its full glory, as it is today, and with the cultural industries and the creative industries - I'm thinking of the Turner prize winners - it's a very vibrant city and I have a feeling Glasgow is just about to burst out on the international scenes. "And if I can help Glasgow in any way to do that then I will be more than pleased with my performance."