Archive for Our Scotland - www.our-scotland.org Scottish Politics Discussion Forum / Messageboard - Dedicated to online discussion about Scottish Politics and an Independent Scotland, as well as Scottish Society today. We also have a section dedicated to Banter, Sport and Recommended Sites.
|
SLG
|
Labour set to strike deal with Lib Dems after city electionsNo surprises here. Like Holyrood, the Lib Dems in Edinburgh will prop up a failing and increasingly unpopular Labour administration. You've got to laugh at the thought of the Lib Dem group leader Jenny Dawe who is thought to be "grooming herself as Edinburgh's next Lord Provost and is said to be "desperate" to succeed Lesley Hinds"  .
| Quote: | Labour set to strike deal with Lib Dems after city elections
BRIAN FERGUSON - CITY COUNCIL REPORTER
LABOUR councillors are set to strike a deal with the Liberal Democrats to retain control of the City Chambers after next year's elections.
Secret talks are under way which would see the two parties enter into a coalition.
And it is understood Lib Dem leader Jenny Dawe is likely to insist on becoming the new Lord Provost as part of the deal.
The two leading contenders for the Labour group leadership, Ewan Aitken and Elizabeth Maginnis, are said to have been wooing Councillorr Dawe over a possible pact. Party leaders today denied a deal was on the cards but senior sources at the City Chambers confirmed to the Evening News that discussions have taken place.
The talks are happening because a change to a proportional representation voting system is expected to ensure that no one party will have an overall majority after May's poll, with the SNP and the Greens likely to have several councillors returned.
Talks between the Lib Dems and Tories over a potential pre-election deal broke down earlier this year.
Speculation over a coalition deal is mounting in the run-up to the Labour group deciding who will succeed Donald Anderson as leader next week.
Cllrs Aitken and Maginnis - current and former education leaders in Edinburgh - are involved in a three-way battle with city planning chief Trevor Davies for the group leadership.
It is thought Cllr Davies is badly trailing his two rivals, with Cllr Aitken believed to have a narrow lead at the moment.
However insiders say a number of councillors are still "wavering" and that others may have offered their backing to more than one contender.
One insider said Cllr Maginnis, in particular, has made no secret of the need for Labour to work behind the scenes with the Lib Dems in the run-up to the elections.
But Cllr Aitken is a major support of the PR voting system, with insiders saying he has embarked on a "charm offensive" to try to impress Cllr Dawe and her colleagues.
Cllr Davies is believed to have struggled to secure support from colleagues worried about the prospects of him securing any kind of post-election deal with the Lib Dems, but is hoping for a late surge in support from Cllr Maginnis' supporters if they sense she has no chance of victory.
Cllr Dawe is understood to be grooming herself as Edinburgh's next Lord Provost and is said to be "desperate" to succeed Lesley Hinds, herself a leadership contender after May's elections.
She denied today that any pre-election deals had been done, but added pointedly that she had "informal discussions with opposition councillors on a variety of occasions".
She added:
"I hope to play a very useful part in the next administration, whether it is in a political or civic role, and have made no secret of that."
Cllr Maginnis said it would be "premature and presumptuous" to have already held coalition talks with the Lib Dems.
However she said: "Nobody can possibly predict what the result of the election is going to be, but clearly after the leadership issue is settled, we have a lot of work to do with the other opposition parties. For the sake of the city's future prosperity we are going to have to talk to each other so that we understand each other's policies, agendas and personalities."
Cllr Aitken insisted he had not made any form of approaches to the Lib Dems, and declined to comment further on the matter.
But the prospect of the two parties striking a pre-election deal has infuriated some Labour and Lib Dem councillors, who say such a move is "political madness" that will turn off voters.
One Labour councillor said: "It's completely fatal to have any kind of discussion about coalitions before an election because then no-one knows who they are voting for. The other crucial thing is that these discussions are all pretty pointless until you know how many councillors each party is going to have. It's a waste of time."
A senior Lib Dem councillor said: "The last thing we want to do is send out messages that we're in cahoots with Labour over a coalition. It's political madness to be discussing these things at the moment. People in Edinburgh are sick to the back teeth of the current administration and they're not going to vote for us if they think we're going to let them back in by the back door."
But another Labour councillor said: "It makes perfect sense to be speaking informally to each other, building up some form of relationship and trust, and not firing personal attacks at each other. Next May is not very far away." |
http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1197452006
|
October1974
|
Not a very clever move by the Libs - vote Lib and get Labour. Gift to the other parties to put that on their literature.
|
macnumpty
|
Yeah.. considering that they're the party that loves STV, they're having trouble with the new order of things: first, they're now deprived of their leaflets screaming the phrase "ONLY WE CAN WIN HERE!!!!!!!!!", and now they've gifted a slogan to the SNP and the Tories...
Also, this is a major U-turn by the City LibDems, who had hitherto been complaining about how terrible the Labour administration was. Now that they've said they'll prop it up, they can't get away with that anymore.
Not only that, but it does show the LibDems as desperate for a slice of the pie, however far they have to stoop in order to get it. At times I suspect that LibDem candidates would offer voters the use of their first-born children as garden gnomes in exchange for support, and plans like this do nothing to change my mind.
|
|
|
|