SNP Councillor stepping down

Deidre Brock MP

SNP Councillor Deidre Brock is now an elected MP and so it is little surprise that she has tonight announced that she will now be stepping down from her position at the city council.

She already relinquished her position as Depute Lord Provost and that position has been filled by Councillor Steve Cardownie.

The councillor wrote to Chief Executive Sue Bruce: “It has been a honour to serve as a councillor in Scotland’s capital city and a great privilege to represent the people of Leith Walk ward on the City of Edinburgh Council.  The colleagues I have had over the eight years in service have been excellent and I would like to thank them for that.  I would also like to thank you for all you did to make my time in service easier and your efforts in ensuring the people of Edinburgh get best service from their council.  I would like to include the staff of the Council in that praise – they all serve the city well.

“As you know, however, I was elected to serve as a Member of Parliament in May and I do not believe it is practical or possible for me to continue to serve as both a councillor and an MP.  For that reason I feel I must tender my resignation to you at this time and resign as a councillor with immediate effect.”

This means that there will be a by-election in the Leith Walk Ward unless the council decide otherwise.

There are three other councillors representing the ward all of whom were elected in 2012.

Angela Blacklock and Nick Gardner are both Labour councillors and Councillor Maggie Chapman represents the Green Group.

The next council elections are due to be held in 2017.

Deidre Brock was elected as SNP MP in the Edinburgh North and Leith constituency in the General Election in May with a majority of 5,597.