New council leader aims to be a 'unifier' despite major divisions
Independent Councillor Brian Connolly has been elected as Leader of South Ayrshire Council, replacing Conservative Martin Dowey who is accused of making promises to help a businessman secure a major contract.
New South Ayrshire Council Leader, Brian Connolly, aims to be a 'unifier' despite a major divide exacerbated by allegations of corruption and misconduct.
The long serving independent councillor for Maybole and North Carrick had one of the shortest stints as depute leader – becoming leader six days after being named number two.
Councillor Connolly told the Ayrshire Post reporting service that it was his job to stabilise and unify the council after a torrid period.
He said: 'That is my area of expertise, being able to bring people together.'
The announcement came almost a month after South Ayrshire Council descended into chaos in the wake of former leader Martin Dowey being recorded allegedly offering help to a businessman seeking a multi-million pound demolition contract.
This ultimately led to Cllr Dowey's belated resignation, only stepping down after Provost Iain Campbell quit in spectacular fashion, on May 1, describing some colleagues as 'despicable'.
South Ayrshire Council held a special meeting on Tuesday to elect a new Leader and Provost, with Cllr Connolly vying with SNP leader Julie Dettbarn, and Councillor Campbell performing a u-turn to stand against Labour's Ian Cavana for Provost.
While there was significant pushback against Cllr Connolly's nomination, there was little criticism of his credentials by those seeking change.
Likewise, there was little criticism of Cllr Campbell as Provost, with the focus largely on his u-turn and the wider context of change.
Labour veteran Cavana was nominated by the SNP and Labour groups, with his group leader Duncan Townson praising his experience and integrity.
Cllr Campbell was returned as Provost by 16 votes to 12. This saw the SNP and Labour groups, together with former Conservative Councillors Stephen Ferry and Bob Pollock, vote for Cllr Cavana.
The vote was repeated for the election of the new Leader, with Cllr Connolly selected over Cllr Dettbarn – nominated by both the SNP and Labour – by 16 votes to 12.
All of the members of the administration, including former leader Dowey, the independent councillors who were given positions on the administration, including Hugh Hunter, Bob Shields, and former SNP leader William Grant, backed Cllrs Connolly and Campbell.
Former SNP members Chris Cullen, now a member of Alba, and Mark Dixon also voted for both Provost Campbell and Leader Connolly, as did Provost Campbell and Depute Provost Mary Kilpatrick, who have both stated that they have left the Conservatives.
While it was claimed that no positions had been offered to any councilllors, immediately after the meeting closed, Cllr Connolly told the local democracy reporting service that Alba Councillor, Chris Cullen, was to join the administration.
He also said that he didn't plan to make many changes to the make up of the administration, which will be formally announced at a meeting on Friday.
Despite repeated claims that maintaining the 'status quo' would seriously damage the reputation of the council, Cllr Connolly insisted he was confident that he would be able to unify the council.
Cllr Connolly's long standing independent colleague Councillor Alec Clark was elected deputy leader, meaning both positions are held by councillors in the south of the authority.
Councillor Connolly was the only independent councillor on South Ayrshire Council in 2007 when multi-member wards were introduced.
Councillor Clark was elected in 2012 and both councillors were part of all coalition administrations since then, including Conservative and Labour in 2012, SNP and Labour in 2017 and the current Conservative/Independent administration.
After a decade as the only independents in South Ayrshire, they were joined by a number of others in the current term.
Some were directly elected as independents, but the majority have become independent after quitting the party on whose ticket they were elected.
The portfolio holders on South Ayrshire Cabinet will be decided at another special meeting on Friday.
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