THE deepening rift ripping through Scotland's largest council has erupted as its leader removes one of his senior officers in the clearest sign yet of a civil war tearing through the Labour-run authority.
Frank McAveety, leader of Glasgow City Council, has forced his director of communications Colin Edgar out the door and into one of the authority's arms-length organisations.
Mr McAveety has had a long-standing distrust of his media chief, linking with with both the previous regime at the council under Gordon Matheson and connected to senior figures in the Labour Party hierarchy the leader and his inner circle claim actively oppose them.
Mr Edgar, who has held the post for almost a decade and was a former communications boss of Scottish Labour, will take on a similar role at Glasgow Life, the council-owned arts and leisure trust.
Part of his remit will be taken on by Mr McAveety's special advisor, the former BBC journalist and media chief at quango Strathclyde Partnership for Transport Bob Wylie.
Councillors and fellow officers are being told today that Mr Edgar's new post is to improve the communications operation within Glasgow Life, as it prepares to merge with the Glasgow City Marketing Bureau and bid for international events.
But it has been an open secret that there had been a communication breakdown between Mr McAveety and Mr Wylie and their communications chief.
The most significant move in Mr McAveety's six month tenure, it has been criticised by the SNP council leader as a "complete lack of constructive ideas coming out of the administration".
It comes on the back of ongoing reports of strife within the council, which Mr McAveety took on the running of following a coup against his predecessor.
In December how Mr McAveety refused to give full backing to the local authority’s first female chief executive.
Our sister paper, the Sunday Herald reported how Mr McAveety’s allies criticised Annemarie O’Donnell, Mr Edgar's boss, at a private Labour meeting over a perceived lack of detail on budget cuts.
It was also reported last week how Mr McAveety had taken legal advice after a complaint about his administration was sent to Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale.
An individual claiming to be a party councillor made a number of claims about his leadership and said morale in the city chambers was at “an all-time low”.
And in a highly unusual move the Lord Provost of Glasgow Sadie Docherty publicly revealed she had been left “disappointed” at the council leader's handling of a row over gender equality.
One senior Labour figure said: "Colin is a highly respected professional, who has been in the fire with two council leaders before Frank, so why you would need to do this is not entirely clear.
"He knows how to speak to the press, has their trust and has a subtle professionalism which is invaluable to his senior officers as it should be to the political leadership."
Another said: "Several people in the administration have made no secret of their views on senior officers. Who's next then? Is this how they want to run their administration?"
Susan Aitken, leader of the council's SNP group, said: “Cllr McAveety’s hapless administration just seems to be lurching from one calamity to another.
"Not only is the Labour group itself rife with infighting, it now also seems that the leader of the council is unable to maintain decent working relationships with highly experienced senior council officers.
"Cllr McAveety’s mind is quite clearly not on his day job and that shows in the complete lack of constructive ideas coming out of his administration to address the real problems in service delivery that many Glaswegians are experiencing.”
A spokesman for Glasgow City Council said: “Colin is taking up a new post as Director of Strategic Partnerships where he will lead the council family’s relationship with key stakeholders as we continue to build the city’s global reputation in sport and culture.
“It comes at a hugely important time as we maximise the success of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games. We are preparing to host a number of other major events, such as the 2016 Homeless World Cup, the World Badminton Championships in 2017 and the 2018 European Sports Championships.
“He will also work on our plans for the Burrell Collection, including its first international tour.
“Glasgow is already a world class city but it’s vital that we develop our reputation further as we bring more events to the city, and crucially the jobs and investment that they support.”
A spokesman for Glasgow City Council said: “Colin is taking up a new post as Director of Strategic Partnerships where he will lead the council family’s relationship with key stakeholders as we continue to build the city’s global reputation in sport and culture.
“It comes at a hugely important time as we maximise the success of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games. We are preparing to host a number of other major events, such as the 2016 Homeless World Cup, the World Badminton Championships in 2017 and the 2018 European Sports Championships.
“He will also work on our plans for the Burrell Collection, including its first international tour.
“Glasgow is already a world class city but it’s vital that we develop our reputation further as we bring more events to the city, and crucially the jobs and investment that they support.”
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