Local government elections: Labour celebrate as SNP fail to control Glasgow

Labour is having a very good day in the west of Scotland as the local government election results continue to be announced.

In Glasgow, a city which has been a key battleground between the party and the SNP, Labour could gain an overall majority once more.

SNP started its election campaign hoping to gain an overall control of Glasgow City Council. But after the results were announced in only six of the 21 wards, it became clear this was mathematically impossible.

For the other parties, fears of a wipe-out of Liberal Democrats in Glasgow were avoided early on as Margot Clark was re-elected. The only Conservative councillor in the last council, David Meikle, was also re-elected, while Liam Hainey, Martha Wardrop , Nina Baker, Kieran Wild and Martin Bartos were all elected in a great day for the Greens. Stephen Dornan was also delighted after he was elected with Glasgow First.

Some familiar names will return to the City Chambers, while others have failed to win enough votes. Labour’s Gordon Matheson, the leader of the Labour group in the city, was re-elected as was Archie Graham, the husband of the Scottish party leader Johann Lamont.

The party’s Stephen Curran, former MSP Bill Butler and Paul Rooney will join them. For the SNP, group leader Allison Hunter and Graeme Hendry were elected.

Those who have missed out include Glasgow First’s leader Tommy Morrison, Liberal Democrat Alex Dingwall and Gail Sheridan. The wife of former MSP Tommy Sheridan narrowly missed out on election in the Craigton ward after she finished fifth.

Anne-Marie Millar, a former Labour Party representative on the council who stood as an independent this time, missed out in Southside Central.

'Juggernaut has rolled into a ditch'

After his re-election, Mr Matheson hit back at the Nationalists who had considered Scotland's largest city a key target, one year on from their unprecedented majority win at the Scottish Parliament.

He said: "So far the results have been very good for Labour and extraordinarily bad for the SNP. Their juggernaut has rolled into a ditch.

"They were the party that made big predictions that they would sweep Labour from power. The people of Glasgow have had other ideas.

"I'm not making final predictions about the outcome because there are a number of seats to declare. I'll be absolutely clear about this: if Labour does emerge as the largest party, I would be seeking to form the administration and lead Glasgow City Council through the Commonwealth Games and beyond."

In Renfrewshire, meanwhile, Labour was celebrating after gaining a majority control of the council. The party also retained overall control in North Lanarkshire.

In North Lanarkshire, SNP made gains on their 2007 performance, where they had 20 councillors elected. This time around, the independent candidates were sacrificed by the electorate, with five losing their seats, while the county’s only Conservative and sole Liberal Democrat also lost their seats.

More About Glasgow local election 2012

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