THE suspension of the 11-strong SNP group on Argyll and Bute Council has been lifted by the party, but the group leader has stood down following a row over a new coalition.
Meanwhile, negotiations are continuing between the different groups on the council about the way forward.
Last week, the SNP-led administration invited LibDems and Tories to come on board following the resignation of two SNP councillors over the closure of a care home in Dunoon.
But the SNP at a national level were left angered by the move, given that for the past six years council groups have to seek approval of the party's National Executive Committee (NEC) before entering into formal coalition arrangements. The NEC gave the group until "close of play" last night to rescind the decision or be expelled from the party.
The group met for talks in Lochgilphead that took up most of yesterday, but James Robb the Helensburgh councillor who was leader of the council, could not attend.
A statement later issued by party HQ said: "The Argyll and Bute Council SNP group will not be forming a proposed coalition after a unanimous decision of the group this morning.
"Discussions with other groups are on-going, and the SNP council group will continue to work for the best deal for all the communities of Argyll and Bute.
"Following today's group meeting, council leader James Robb indicated he has stepped down."
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 hereComments are closed on this article