Popular Lib Dem Councillor Robert Aldridge became Edinburgh’s Lord Provost on Thursday. He was the only nomination and was proposed by the leader of the SNP Group Adam McVey and seconded by his ward colleague, new Lib Dem Councillor Ed Thornley. Watch here:
The 258th Rt Hon Lord Provost of The City of Edinburgh is Cllr Robert Aldridge who is the longest serving councillor but also a very popular choice. pic.twitter.com/hBbDRuAdEm
— Edinburgh Reporter (@EdinReporter) May 26, 2022
Dobbie, as he is known to his friends, was first elected to the Council in 1984. I first got to know him when we first moved back to Scotland in 2000 when he was Marilyne Maclaren’s agent in Edinburgh South for two general elections. He spent most of his career working for an organisation supporting people through homelessness. He is a wonderful, compassionate Liberal Democrat. He made a superb, generous and inclusive speech on taking office which you can listen to here. It certainly had me in bits.
He will need every ounce of his patience and ability to make people work well together over the next five years.
Edinburgh is being run by a minority Labour administration despite having only 13 of the 63 seats. They will have to fight for support on every issue. While the Liberal Democrat’s 12 strong group supported them taking office, they are under no obligation to keep them there:
Here is their statement:
On Thursday, there will be two propositions before Edinburgh Council to form an administration; a SNP/Green coalition and a Labour minority.
The LibDem opposition group has agreed to back the option offering the best chance for change.
We’ll be voting for the Labour minority. pic.twitter.com/lnHXiva8I5
— Kevin Lang (@kevin_lang) May 24, 2022
* Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings. You can find her on Bluesky at caronmlindsay.bsky.social
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3 Comments
It appears that the three Unionist parties have decided to stick together to prevent the two pro-independence parties from forming a minority administration. Decisions like this make it difficult for the Liberal Democrats to complain about the constitutional question being ‘divisive’ when the party is reinforcing the importance of constitutional differences even for deciding who should run our local councils.
Fantastic news about Dobbie Aldridge. My city couldn’t have a better Lord Provost, and on a personal level I’m thrilled for one of the nicest, most hard-working people I’ve ever known in politics.
Many congratulations to my old friend Dobbie. Well deserved a reward for many years hard fork for the community of West Edinburgh and elsewhere.