THE Labour group in Glasgow will today vote on who should lead the council with the contest expected to be "close".
Malcolm Cunning, the current chief faces a challenge for the top job from returning councillor George Redmond.
The contest comes after Labour failed to regain Scotland's largest local authority from the SNP on May 5, losing out by just one seat. Labour won 36 seats with the SNP taking 37.
Talks between the SNP and the Greens about a formal working arrangement to run the council - including a Holyrood style co-operation agreement - were expected to start last week.
Councillor Redmond, businessman and landlord, who represents Calton, was a councillor for 18 years and held a number of senior positions when Labour last ran the administration.
He served as chairman of Glasgow Life and SPT, convener of the property and planning committees and was twice the council spokesman for development and regeneration.
He stood down in 2017, looking to spend more time with his family, but stunned party members when he announced a comeback last week.
A source told The Herald after the announcement last week: “We've known a leadership challenge was on its way when Redmond announced he was coming back last year.
“He has a large property portfolio, he runs a credit union. He doesn’t need the money. He could only have been coming back to be the leader of the group or leader of the council.
“What’s surprised everyone is how quickly he’s moved against Malcolm. This is an all or nothing challenge. If he doesn’t win there’s no chance he’s going to get a front bench position."
One source said they believed Councillor Redmond would have the support of some of the older guard in the group. He’s known to be close with former leader Frank McAveety.
However, it's believed Councillor Cunning - who has already said he would not intend to serve a full five year term as group leader - already has a succession plan in place, with depute leader Eva Murray widely expected to take over when he stands down.
Ahead of the group meeting today Councillor Cunning told The Herald today: "I think it will be a close contest."
Councillor Redmond told the Daily Record last week: “I’ve got widespread experience in the portfolios I have held. I had the economic brief, the Glasgow Life brief and I was the co-author of the Glasgow health strategy. I have also run a successful financial organisation.”
“Glasgow is not in a good place. People want the city cleaned up. One of the first things I would do is call a meeting of the business community about the city centre.
“The state of the city centre is heartbreaking. Big stores have pulled out. We can’t pretend it is not happening.”
Councillor Cunning told The Herald: “Glasgow Labour delivered the best result in the city since before the referendum in 2014. We need to move forward, building on that success. Now is not the time to go backwards to the politics of the past.”
It is understood the result of the ballot will be revealed latter today.
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