The new leader of Labour in Glasgow has missed his first day on the job because he went to the Rangers game in Seville.
George Redmond, who overthrew a colleague last week to lead the council’s opposition group, had been due at the City Chambers this morning.
However he was forced to dial in instead, and apparently forgot to mute his phone, with other councillors able to hear the bustle of an airport in the background.
The meeting was the first full council since the local elections of May 5, when the SNP came just one seat ahead of Labour in Glasgow under then group leader Malcolm Cunning.
Mr Redmond, who returned as a councillor for Calton after a five year break, then deposed Mr Cunning in a swift and brutal leadership contest, winning by 24 votes to 11.
In a piece for the Glasgow Times last week, Mr Redmond criticised the SNP leadership of Glasgow, saying Labour had the “energy, the drive and the hunger” to be the champions the city desperately needed.
He also vowed to challenge the SNP’s Susan Aitken for the city’s overall leadership in a symbolic vote today, his first official day as leader of the council's opposition.
But after travelling to Seville for the Europa League final between Rangers and Eintracht Frankfurt, he failed to make it back in time and had to log in remotely.
The SNP said it showed a lack of commitment to the job.
Labour confirmed Mr Redmond was in Seville for the match and claimed his flight home had been cancelled.
The SNP said: “George Redmond today publicly announced his intention to be leader of this great city yet can’t even be bothered to turn up to the actual meeting where the voting takes place.
“Just three days after he split Glasgow Labour in two in his quest to become its leader, he’s clearly already got other priorities.
“Cllr Redmond's decision to be somewhere rather than this crucial meeting shows his responsibilities to his constituents, to his group and to the city of Glasgow are ditched the instant he has a better offer.”
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