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Another Argyll and Bute councillor stands down

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For Argyll was told yesterday that Oban North and Lorn Councillor, the SNP’s Louise Glen-Lee, was resigning from Argyll and Bute Council.

We asked Councillor Glen-Lee if this was the case.

She confirmed that it was, making it clear that she is standing down for purely personal reasons.

Her loss will not materially affect the SNP group of councillors, since they are already a miniscule opposition – and a far from troublesome one, in a chamber that is otherwise a complacent all-but-unitary administration, except for a handful of SNP  group members.

Councillor Glen-Lee’s decision has to mean another by-election, with the current one in the neighbouring Oban South and the Isles ward, becoming even more bizarre by the moment.

The SNP is in internal turmoil over the controversial selection of a highly unpopular candidate, the SNP Constituency Association Secretary, Iain S MacLean. He was preferred, allegedly by senior party influence, over two local candidates who are greatly respected in the ward and who, unlike Mr MacLean,  have an untarnished record of supporting their party.

Mr MacLean’s actions, along with those of his Constituency Association Convener, Robert Allan, contributed much to the anger and the hilarity with which the public witnessed the SNP’s willful destruction of three of its own SNP-led council administrations over 2012-13. Party seniors were afraid the newbies might take unpopular but necessary decisions that would lose votes in the only issue the party cares about – and that is clearly not Argyll and Bute, which was profoundly damaged by the mess.

Now it is known that there will be a hustings for this by-election – on Mull and not in Oban, where the majority of the resident population in the ward are to be found.

The Mull hustings is in Craignure Village Hall at 7.30 on 6th May, organised by Steve Willis of the Community Council. The SNP are said to be fearful of  a Oban hustings which might expose their man to a very public humiliation.

The weather in the contest is so far being made by two candidates, the independent businessman, John MacGregor; and Labour’s Neil MacIntyre. Mr MacLean and Mr Macgregor live outwith the ward, a matter of concern to some voters.

If one of these two take this ward, it will see the SNP, which had four seats [50%] in the overall area of Oban Lorn and the Isles – without a single one.

If nothing else will convince the party of the suicidal stupidity of thinking that forcing out of power their own first ever SNP-led administrations in Argyll and Bute was a safety-first smart move to support the indy vote  – maybe this situation will.


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