Councillors accused of 'rearranging the chairs on the Titanic' during South Ayrshire leadership crisis

Daily Record

22-05-2025

SNP, Labour and ex-Conservatives argued that the only way for SAC to restore its reputation in wake of leadership crisis was a changing of the guard.
The line, 'rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic' was one repeated several times by councillors arguing that change was vital to rebuild South Ayrshire Council's reputation.
It was a phrase repeated by several councillors as it became clear that members who had formed the administration under Councillor Martin Dowey planned to maintain the status quo during a heated debate over the future of the council on Tuesday.
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When Provost Iain Campbell resigned in spectacular fashion at a meeting on May 1, Labour group leader Duncan Townson acknowledged the difficult decision, shaking Cllr Campbell's hand and praising him for his integrity.
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It followed a series of events sparked by an audio recording of Cllr Dowey, who remained leader at the time of the meeting, seemingly promise to help a businessman secure a demolitions contract.
But the goodwill towards the Provost collapsed after his u-turn.
It heralded a heated meeting that saw all but one of the councillors who sat on the administration under Cllr Dowey vote for Independent Councillor Brian Connolly, who has declared that the cabinet will not see a huge change in personnel, as his replacement.
The SNP and Labour, together with former Conservatives Bob Pollock and Stephen Ferry, said that the reputation of the council had been so sullied that only a change of administration could bring it back on track.
Tuesday's meeting saw Cllr Connolly, who had been named depute leader in the interim, elevated to the leadership and Provost Campbell returning.
The removal of Cllr Pollock from the depute leader post was one of the more controversial decisions taken in the wake of the leadership crisis.
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As depute, Cllr Pollock would have taken over the running of the council on the resignation of Cllr Dowey as leader.
It is understood that he was highly critical of the approach being taken. However, the administration had argued that the move was only made to ensure the sizeable independent contingent in the administration was represented.
Cllr Pollock's words were among the strongest made on Tuesday morning.
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He questioned what had changed to make Cllr Campbell accept a nomination mere weeks after a very public resignation where he used 'less than complimentary language' about the administration.
Later he added: 'This administration has been brought into utter disrepute with the public.
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'By the actions not only of the former leader, but by those who have supported him.
'I'm going to make a point here in terms of integrity and the fact that this is purported to be an independent administration.
'It is anything but. If you look at yourself, [Provost]. You resigned from the Conservative Party, become an independent and are voting with the administration.
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'You have a deputy provost, who resigned from the Conservative party, I understand, and is still voting with the administration.
'You have Councillor Gavin Scott, who resigned from the Conservative party. and is voting with the administration.
'Make no doubt, this is exactly as it has been described.
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'This is a rearranging of the chairs on the Titanic. And this council has stopped as a result of the fact that people will not face up to their consequences of what they were doing.
'That's the change that's desperately needed.'
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Labour group leader Townson made it clear that both his party and the SNP were of a view that change was vital to restore the council's reputation as he nominated SNP leader Julie Dettbarn for the Leader's post.
He said: 'What I see before me is the preferred candidate of the former leader of the council, whose actions sparked the debacle we're in today.
'If we do not vote for a definitive change today, we're telling the people of South Ayrshire that we believe there are no consequences to bringing the council into disrepute.
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'If we do not vote for that change, we're continuing what has come before.
'One thing is certain – we cannot rearrange the deck of the Titanic to reseat those that sunk the ship in different positions of authority, hoping to direct attention away from the lifeboats.'
Councillor Dettbarn also spoke as she nominated Cllr Townson for the depute leadership.
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She began by indicating that there was more to come around conduct in the council, but said she was limited in what she could say.
She also rebutted an earlier comment from Provost Campbell that much of what was a problem in South Ayrshire lay around 'political bickering'.
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She continued: 'What I can say is that over the last year or so, I have witnessed things in this place that I never, ever expected to experience as an elected member.
'And it goes way beyond anything that you yourself say is political bickering.
'It is nothing short of an un-edifying spectacle to watch the chairs being rearranged and all the same people remaining in administration.'
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She suggested that the councillors voting for the status quo may be hoping that the public wouldn't notice, adding 'they absolutely will notice and they are the reason we are all here.
'They voted to put us here and they deserve better. And it's right there above the Provost's head – Ne'er forget the people.'
Prior to the vote for Provost, Independent member Stephen Ferry challenged Cllr Campbell directly, asking: 'What has changed in the three weeks since the grand gesture?'
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Cllr Campbell replied that the difference was that he was now independent, 'at arms length from where I stood that day.'
He also inferred that, despite the Provost role being explicitly non-political, even when they are a member of a party, he didn't view that as the case when he was with the Conservatives.
He added: 'Over the past days I've been approached by both sides, to be Provost.
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'So I don't see why I can be bad for one side, and good for one side now, in the chair.
'So, if people are quite happy to nominate me, I'm quite happy to do the role as a non-political role from now on in.'
He continued: 'I just wish, instead of all the bickering, like we hear in this chamber every single time we were meeting, we should all just join together as one group to do the best for the people of South Ayrshire. And I'm really very passionate about that.
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'All this part of the political nonsense that goes on in this chamber. There's enough politicians in Westminster and Edinburgh.'
Labour Councillor Brian McGinley said: 'I don't think it's credible to continue to support the previous administration in any shape or form.
'You need to ask yourself how many of the former supporters of the administration will benefit from this new administration.
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'So it's very clear to me that it's the same people in the same way or in a different way, different positions, the same people.'
Labour veteran Ian Cavana, who was unsuccessful in the vote for Provost, said some members of the administration had been 'vile' and highlighted internal issues within the Conservatives by quoting Provost Campbell who he said had told him that he hadn't spoken to former council leader Dowey in two years.
Provost Campbell did not respond to the claim.
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Those councillors who did speak in support of Cllr Campbell as Provost and Cllr Connolly as leader almost entirely avoided mention of the situation that led to them being there in the first place.
Councillor Alec Clark, who would go on to be voted in as depute leader, simply backed his colleague for leader by saying: 'He is a well-known businessman, I trust his character.
'He has integrity, which he has shown throughout his working life. I think there's no better candidate to take this council forward.'