Edinburgh Council: Last thing SNP needs is a fight with Lord Provost Frank Ross – Steve Cardownie

At last Thursday’s Edinburgh City Council meeting which was convened to set a budget for the forthcoming financial year, two administration members jumped ship by refusing to vote for the coalition’s proposals, choosing to abstain instead.

One, the Labour Councillor Gordon Munro was not entirely unexpected but the other, SNP Councillor and Lord Provost Frank Ross, took many by surprise. Frank’s beef is reported to be the lack of commitment by the administration to help build the Corstorphine Community Centre which went up in flames in 2013 and which lies in his ward of Corstorphine/Murrayfield.

It will now be up to both groups to decide what action, if any, should be taken against both dissidents. There are many options open to the groups which range from a mild rebuke to suspension but they will have to be careful that, if any punishment is meted out, it is consistent with that taken against previous councillors who have strayed from the group line.

Any consideration of more punitive measures to be taken against Frank because of his profile will surely be met with a response that would do the group no favours at all.

The last thing that the SNP needs is an internal dispute with the Lord Provost (which would no doubt attract some unwelcome publicity) leading up to the by-election, soon to be held in the Craigmillar/Duddingston Ward.