Aberdeen City Council leader Jenny Laing announces she will step down at local authority election in May

The leader of Aberdeen City Council has announced that she will be standing down.

Labour councillor Jenny Laing said she will not contest the local elections in May.

Laing, who has represented the Midstocket and Rosemount ward for over a decade, explained that she wishes to spend more time with her family.

In 2017, she was one of the nine Labour councillors suspended by Kezia Dugdale for forming a coalition with the Scottish Conservatives on the council.

The party’s National Constitutional Committee determined they would remain administratively suspended from the party until May 1, 2022.

However last year, Labour voted to allow the councillors to stand in the 2022 local authority election.

Announcing her decision, Laing said she was “eternally grateful” to have served in her role.

“I have thought long and hard about this and after much soul-searching I have decided that now is the right time to leave local politics,” said Laing.

“Representing the people of the Midstocket and Rosemount ward for the last 15 years and leading the Labour group and Aberdeen City Council for the last eight years has provided me with some of the most rewarding experiences of my life.

“I will be eternally grateful to all those who made that happen.”

Aberdeen Labour would like to put on record our deep thanks to Cllr Jenny Laing for her time as leader of our Local Labour Group for the past eight years. pic.twitter.com/CVbeo6TWO7
— Aberdeen Labour (@AberdeenLabour) March 1, 2022

The Aberdeen Labour group paid tribute to Laing for her work and commitment to the people of Aberdeen and to the Labour movement.

They said: “Aberdeen Labour would like to put on record our deep thanks to Cllr Jenny Laing for her time as leader of our Local Labour Group for the past eight years.

“During Jenny’s time as leader of our City Council, Aberdeen has seen huge investment in our regeneration areas around the city.

“We’ve tackled food and fuel poverty head-on, we’ve invested in 2000 new council homes, we’ve built new schools, and we’ve invested in the cultural fabric of Aberdeen more generally.

“All of these achievements are no small feat, particularly given the relentless cuts agenda that Aberdeen has faced from the SNP Government at Holyrood.

“We thank Jenny for her relentless and unwavering commitment to the people of Aberdeen, to our party, and to the wider Labour movement over so many years.

“We wish both her and her family all the very best for the future.”