Corstorphine/Murrayfield byelection- Where the Party puts interests before Constituents
When you vote in a Council election, you’d think you’d be voting for someone who will represent your interests… yes? Well, you’d be wrong- because that person will side with their party once they’re in power. Because if it comes to the crunch- and they go against the line by supporting their locals at a key vote, they’ll be expelled from their party for “breaking the whip”. The SNP are particularly keen to expel those who don’t toe the line- just count the number of ex-SNP independents at the end of an Administration’s term. Some of these will stand again, but they never succeed, because their old Party gets the votes, putting in a replacement who will be more obedient. They’ll succeed in this because voters usually vote along Party lines.
But why, if it’s not in their interests? For a case in point, consider the fate of the two motions for CCWEL compensation to Roseburn traders.
The minutes of the full Council meeting of 15th December were published a few days ago, which tells us who voted for what. Read it on pages 63 to 69 here.
In spite of various Labour Councillors promising to support the shops, they did what they were told that day by their Party bosses and refused to vote for compensation. The Greens also opposed giving the shops a penny. There were two motions in favour of compensation; one from the Libdems/Tories and one from the SNP.
Anyone reading the minutes will see that the 19 SNP Councillors supported the move one minute, then sat on their hands the next, after their motion fell. They just couldn’t bring themselves to support the LibDem/Tory bid for the same thing. The reason can only be because they put Party before people.
Our venerable SNP Cllr Frank Ross, who’d submitted the SNP motion to support the traders, was whipped into line and prevented from voting with his heart, having to keep silent on a matter that seriously affected his ward and the people who had voted for him. Maybe he had calculated that even if he had voted with the LibDems, rather than abstaining, they would still have been two votes short for getting compensation agreed. He did the decent thing; when the traders were left with nothing, he resigned in disgust after the meeting.
The act of mass abstention was classic petty posturing party politics from the SNP group- which suggests they are losing touch with what really matters. Every single one was frightened to break the whip. But equally, one wonders why the LibDem/ Tory group didn’t speak to the SNP beforehand and agree a joint approach. What is going on in our Council chambers when politicians are unable to come together on matters of common interest?
We also have members of the ruling Labour group on the record before last May’s elections saying that they supported compensation for the Roseburn traders*. People voted for at least one of them on the strength of that promise. But they reneged at the crucial hour.
What we saw in December from Labour, LibDems, Tories and SNP politicians- all of whom have influential councillors who indicated the traders should be helped- was a result where the traders got nothing because most of them (apart from the Greens) were whipped into voting along party lines.
We basically have a system where party is put before the interests of constituents. Yet councillors stand for election on the basis that they will represent the interests of their constituent. This is not democracy.
The fact is, that local government is wholly unsuited to Party politics. Again and again we see politicians voting en bloc, for the sake of opposing one another, when they should be co-operating for what’s best for their constituents. We should have a Council where politicians are freed from doctrine- what happens at a local level ought to be based around like-minded souls coming together on matters of mutual concern.
At the moment, when officers want a particular decision to be made, they’ll work with the party leaders to pitch their plans in the group rooms in the week before the Council meeting. After discussion, the Councillors will be forced to agree a party line. So when deputations from the community arrive at the Chambers to put their case on the day, in 9 times out of 10 they’ll be wasting their breath, because a decision will have been taken by the whips even before the meeting has started.
We need more independent candidates. The citizens of Edinburgh should choose their local representatives not on the basis of who they will vote for at Westminster or Holyrood, because local issues seldom require a party dogma-driven solution. We citizens often vote along Party lines because we don’t have the time to study the track record of our independent candidates. But when we don’t, it’s our loss. To make matters worse, it’s customary for Parties to expel members who admit to not having voted for their party at an election, ostensibly to prevent tactical voting- but it also squeezes out any independent candidates.
I have decided to stand in the byelection on 9th March as an independent candidate. It’s impossible to get the Council to agree to compensating the traders now, but I will be fighting to get the cyclists counted who actually use the new track- and to get pollution levels on the south side monitored. It’s all in my ‘manifesto’ flyer at www.kidsnotsuits.com
Pete Gregson
This article was republished on 8/2/23 at Corstorphine/Murrayfield by election – Pete Gregson Independent | The Edinburgh Reporter
The candidates were announced on 6th Feb 2023 – Corstorphine/Murrayfield by-election candidates announced – The City of Edinburgh Council
- One of the traders has his home in Cllr Tim Pogson’s ward. When he asked Labour Cllr Pogson before the election on where he stood, this was his reply- that got the Cllr the vote he wanted [8 months later, the Cllr subsequently voted against compensation] : Email from Tim Pogson (Labour) 15th April 2022
“Hi Julian, thank you very much for your email and letting me know about the difficulties you are having as a trader on the route of this cycle path. While this may end up being an excellent community resource when it is completed, I can appreciate the impact this is having on your trade and also the livelihoods of your staff as a result.
I have been in touch with my colleague, Richard Parker, who is the Labour candidate in this election for the seat of Corstorphine Murrayfield which covers the site of your business. He is obviously much closer to these issues and has had many conversations with affected traders. Richard is hopeful that there may still be the opportunity to compensate traders and started a petition to that effect – see here. I would certainly support Richard in the efforts he is making to get this issue reopened. If you haven’t done so already, you may wish to contact Richard to share your views with him directly.”