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Saturday, 18 February 2006 |
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The SNP group on Glasgow City Council added a fourth councillor with the election of Billy McAllister for the Milton ward on Thursday. The previous Labour majority of 395 was turned into an SNP majority of 150. The by-election was caused by the resignation of Cllr Gary Gray just before Christmas. As well as claiming to be a medium and to speak to the dead, Gary Gray had been found to have over-claimed his expenses and resigned while being investigated by the Standards Commission.
The count took place in the City Chambers Banqueting Hall and everyone realised quickly it was going to be a close contest. Labour assumptions of an easy win were swiftly vanishing out the window as the ballot papers were poured onto the tables. Billy McAllister is the SNP's first new councillor in Glasgow since Bashir Ahmad was elected in 2003 and it is the Party's first by-election win in the City since 1998 when Labour lost Garrowhill.
In his acceptance speech on Thursday Billy committed himself to fighting for the people of Milton in a way that had not happened before under Labour. He emphasised the need for more facilities and the battle against crime. He also promised he would not be intimidated by drugs operators or anyone else.
John Mason welcomed Billy to the City Chambers on Friday and he was also met there by Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon. Later that morning Billy signed the necessary legal papers and so became a fully fledged councillor. John Mason commented, "Areas of the City like Milton have been neglected by Labour for far too long. The residents there have been treated as voting fodder for the Labour Party machine. But in the SNP we have no safe seats, we cannot sit on our laurels, and we have to work hard in all our wards. I am expecting Billy will rattle a few cages but that is no bad thing! It is tremendously exciting for us to have an addition to our Council group in this way and Billy will enable us to be an even stronger voice for the ordinary citizens of Glasgow." |
