The British Unionist Party is delighted that our councillor John Jo Leckie was able to cast the decisive vote today and remove the SNP administration from power in North Lanarkshire. The vote was triggered following the resignation of the SNP’s Jordan Linden as council leader, after historic allegations of sexual misconduct were made public. Thanks to John Jo’s support, Labour’s Jim Logue has been elected as the new leader of the council, and defeated the SNP’s proposed candidate by 38 votes to 37.
The SNP lasted barely a few months in office. In that short time, they have managed to make it abundantly clear to everybody that they are incapable of running Scotland’s fourth-largest local authority area. The SNP’s attempt to run North Lanarkshire has been an utter farce, and local residents have every right to be angered at such ineptitude when so many are struggling to make ends meet amidst a cost-of-living crisis.
While we felt it was essential to remove the failed SNP administration from office, our support for the new Labour-led administration is not unconditional. The days when Labour could take North Lanarkshire for granted are clearly over, and we will make sure that they are held to account while in office. We campaigned on the bread-and-butter issues like fixing potholes, tidying up fly-tipping and protecting local services from damaging cuts; and these issues remain our priorities at the local level. We expect Labour to deliver on these issues, and John Jo will continue to work tirelessly to bring about positive local change, as he has done for many years already on Shotts Community Council.
Today’s result is a brilliant example of how a small party can be politically effective. The BUP achieved a remarkable result when we elected our first councillor this May, and today we cast the decisive vote that removed the SNP from power and replaced it with a unionist administration in Scotland’s fourth-largest local authority area.
We look forward to building on these successes in the coming months and years. We are currently preparing a new website and a social media launch for the end of the month, so keep an eye out for further developments!
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