An attempt by opposition councillors to take over Argyll and Bute Council has succeeded - but it came down to a cut of the cards.
Fifteen councillors, all members of the Strategic Opposition Partnership - including SNP, Labour and some independents - had called for a special meeting after a furious row over the council's vote in February in favour of a 10 per cent increase in council tax.
And their bid to wrest control succeeded thanks to the luck of the draw, not once but twice.
At a special full council meeting on Thursday, April 4, the vote for both Provost and leader were tied 18-18, forcing a cut of the cards under the rules for such a scenario for a political appointment.
The highest card determined the successful candidates in both votes.
Read More:
-
Labour distances itself from Glasgow councillor in anti-white racism row
-
Yousaf: 'SNP would like to see a conclusion to Operation Branchform'
-
Scottish Government announces close to £8m in funding for nature projects
Maurice Corry (Conservative, Lomond North), who had been provost at the start of the meeting, drew the two of diamonds. And Councillor Douglas Philand (Independent, Mid Argyll) drew the eight of spades.
For leader of the council, in alphabetical order Councillor Robin Currie (Liberal Democrat, Kintyre and the Islands) drew the six of spades.
Councillor Jim Lynch (SNP, Oban South and the Isles) drew the 10 of spades.
The results of the votes mean that the SNP-led opposition partnership has taken over the reins of power, with the previous TALIG administration (The Argyll, Lomond and Islands Group) - comprising Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and some independents - no longer in control.
It's anticipated that the council tax increase will be reversed at a further special meeting of the full council, due to take place on Monday, April 15.
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