This is the question we put to both the Scottish Labour leader, Anas Sarwar and also the current Depute Council Leader, Cllr Cammy Day who is standing for re-election in Forth Ward.
We are not sure that we got the same answer from each of them but it could be anything from a rainbow coalition to agreement on individual matters in a “change to the way we do local democracy”.
Last time round Day won 15.2% of the vote in the ward where turnout was 45.5%. He became part of the leadership of the council in a coalition with the SNP which took three weeks to thrash out.
Cllr Day said: “I think what is important for us now is that every one of our 19 candidates is working tirelessly across the city. Even today – and also tomorrow they will be out on the doors encouraging voters to go out and vote. Then we will have any discussions about working with other parties.
“I think people have seen our progressive manifesto for the city and we will listen to other parties who will help us deliver that.”
When we asked if Edinburgh Labour would back a congestion charge as proposed by the SNP and the Greens Cllr Day admitted it was not in their manifesto, but that they have included a commitment to work with neighbouring authorities to do everything they can to reduce emissions and traffic coming to the city – whether that is by building more park and rides or other options.
He said: “I would not entirely rule it out but I think the potential for that to be a tax on working people at a time when we have a huge cost of living problem across the country – it’s maybe not the time to look at that as a measure for reducing congestion.”
As for the prospect of a rainbow coalition, Cllr Day said he thought that his group has worked well with SNP and Green colleagues, but also Conservatives and Liberal Democrats on some arrangements in the last five years. But he said: “We are open to discussion to get the best deal for the people of Edinburgh and stop playing small party politics, and see if we can get a much wider arrangement to get the best for the citizens of Edinburgh.”
As to the future Cllr Day hopes that council meetings will be in person, perhaps with hybrid arrangements. It has helped some people who perhaps have child care to organise, but I think bringing people back into the chamber for main meetings would be the right thing to do. It has impacted on people’s ability to negotiate and talk in the chambers. I think the quicker we get back to meetings after the election the better it will be for all parties.”
The Scottish Labour leader has repeatedly said that he does not want any of the Labour councillors to enter into formal coalitions in city chambers. Here in Edinburgh there has been a coalition arrangement with both Labour and SNP Conveners depending on who was the senior partner.
Anas Sarwar told The Edinburgh Reporter that with his “no coalition” policy he wanted to maximise Labour representation across Scotland. He said that the idea is to “maximise Labour councillors who will stand up for you, your family and local community and let’s also use this election to send a clear message to Boris Johnson and the SNP that they have done simply not enough to help people with the cost of living crisis.
In other areas of Scotland minority Labour administrations have worked and he did not accept our premise that he was shutting Edinburgh Labour politicians out of powerful positions in the council.
He said: “I do not accept that, because there is no political party standing in Edinburgh that can win a majority. What we are saying is maximise Labour representation and then rather than formal coalitions, let’s change the way we do local democracy and run administrations and on individual issues get individual agreement.”
The Edinburgh Labour group are fielding 19 candidates in Edinburgh:
| Almond | Fred Hessler |
| City Centre | Margaret Graham |
| Colinton/Fairmilehead | Scott Arthur |
| Corstorphine/Murrayfield | Richard Parker |
| Craigentinny/Duddingston | Joan Griffiths |
| Drum Brae/Gyle | Nkechi Okoro |
| Forth | Cammy Day |
| Inverleith | Mhairi Munro-Brian |
| Leith | Katrina Faccenda |
| Leith Walk | James Dalgleish |
| Liberton/Gilmerton | Ishrat Measom |
| Liberton/Gilmerton | Lezley Marion Cameron |
| Morningside | Mandy Watt |
| Pentland Hills | Stephen Jenkinson |
| Portobello/Craigmillar | Heather Pugh |
| Portobello/Craigmillar | Jane Meagher |
| Sighthill/Gorgie | Ross McKenzie |
| Southside/Newington | Tim Pogson |
| Fountainbridge/Craiglockhart | Val Walker |
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Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
