Voters will go to the polls in East Renfrewshire tomorrow to elect councillors for the next five years.
An SNP-Labour coalition, joined by independent Danny Devlin, has been running East Renfrewshire Council for the last two terms, with no overall majority.
There will be no majority in 2022 either as no party is standing enough candidates. Ten councillors are required to take overall control of the 18 councillor local authority.
East Renfrewshire Conservatives are standing the most candidates, with eight. Greg Turner, who was representing the party in Barrhead, will no longer be supported after it emerged he made anti-Catholic posts online.
The SNP’s Tony Buchanan has been the council leader for the last five years and he is one of seven candidates for the party across East Renfrewshire. Labour is standing five candidates, one in each of the area’s wards. The Greens, who had no councillors in the last term, are also putting forward a candidate in each ward while Alba has four.
Ahead of the vote, Buchanan, the SNP group leader, said: “The choice in East Renfrewshire couldn’t be clearer. It’s between Boris Johnson’s Tories, who partied while we made sacrifices in lockdown, or the SNP delivering for East Renfrewshire.
“The SNP is on the side of hard-working families throughout the Tory cost of living crisis. From delivering 1140 hours of free childcare through six brand new nurseries, to record levels of educational attainment, under the SNP East Renfrewshire is one of the best places to live in Scotland.
“But we want to go further. If we are re-elected, we’ll deliver a state-of-the-art leisure centre, opposed by the Tories, and invest across our excellent schools, to keep delivering the high standards residents expect from their council.
“Don’t let the Tories take over your council. On May 5, send a message to Boris Johnson by voting SNP.”
However, Gordon Wallace, leader of the Scottish Conservative group in East Renfrewshire Council, said the SNP and Labour had “badly let down” residents in the area.
“It’s clear from knocking on the doors that two of the key local issues are the appalling state of our roads and ever-expanding house building on green spaces. The SNP-Labour coalition which has run the council for the last decade, despite the Scottish Conservatives having the largest number of councillors five years ago, have allowed our roads to become plagued by potholes.
“We are committed to tackling this scourge of motorists via the Scottish Conservatives’ Pothole Action Fund — and locally we’d allocate £15million to it. People in East Renfrewshire are tired of the never-ending housing developments on greenbelt land which the SNP and Labour nod through without any consideration of the effects on existing residents and local residents.”
He added: “The SNP-Labour stitch up has badly let down East Renfrewshire residents, not least by their meek acceptance of the savage funding cuts imposed on them by the SNP Government at Holyrood. Voters know only Scottish Conservative councillors in East Renfrewshire will stand up to the SNP.”
Labour MSP Paul O’Kane, who was deputy leader of East Renfrewshire Council until his election to Holyrood last year, said his party has had a “really positive” campaign. “I think the dominant feature has been the cost of living crisis. That’s a national issue but it has local ramifications. People’s bills are going up and they are worried about local services.”
He added: “We are fighting for every single vote, we have five excellent candidates and we want to be a driving force for East Renfrewshire Council.”
Owen O’Donnell, the Labour candidate for Newton Mearns North and Neilston, said his party had received “a good reception on the doorsteps” which was “encouraging”. He said three issues were coming up when speaking to voters: the cost of living crisis, Boris Johnson and Nicola Sturgeon.
“It was a bit of a shock to me to hear from so many people in a stressed position,” he said, recalling how one man, aged 67, just retired and living alone, had saved up just enough of a pension pot to prevent him from accessing benefits. O’Donnell said the man was struggling to sleep at night because he was “worrying about how to pay his bills”.
The candidate, who has a background in business and finance, said some young families, with both parents in work, are also struggling to get by. He added: “People are just fed up with Boris and they are increasingly fed up with Nicola Sturgeon and what the SNP is and isn’t doing.”
O’Donnell, who is standing for election for the first time, said the party’s manifesto led on tackling the cost of living crisis and it would run a ‘take up’ campaign to help people claim benefits they are entitled to. He said it would also have insulation and renewable energy schemes, which would help the environment as well as reduce people’s costs.
Ward 1 - Barrhead, Liboside and Uplawmoor (four councillors to be elected)
Paul Aitken (Independent)
Neil Anderson (Alba)
Angela Convery (SNP)
Betty Cunningham (Labour)
Danny Devlin (Independent)
Chris Lundsay (SNP)
Greg Turner
Frank Wilson (Greens)
Ward 2 - Newton Mearns North and Neilston (three councillors to be elected)
Tony Buchanan (SNP)
Farooq Choudhry (Conservative)
Adrian Egglestone (Greens)
Carol McKenzie (Alba)
Derek McMillan (Freedom Alliance)
Andrew Morrison (Conservative)
Owen O’Donnell (Labour)
Maria Reid (Scottish Family Party)
Ward 3 - Giffnock and Thornliebank (three councillors to be elected)
George Gebbie (Alba)
Colm Merrick (SNP)
Mary Montague (Labour)
Alice Roy (Independent)
Karen Sharkey (Greens)
Allan Steele (Independent)
Gordon Wallace (Conservative)
Ward 4 - Clarkston, Netherlee and Williamwood (four councillors to be elected)
Kate Campbell (Conservative)
Gerald Edwards (Conservative)
Annette Ireland (SNP)
Gordon Keenan (Greens)
David Macdonald (Independent)
David Tam McDonald (SNP)
Stewart Miller (Independent)
Katie Pragnell (Labour)
Daphne Vlastari (Liberal Democrats)
Colette Walker (Independence for Scotland Party)
Ward 5 - Newton Mearns South and Eaglesham (four councillors to be elected)
Andrew Anderson (Labour)
Caroline Bamforth (SNP)
Paul Edlin (Conservative)
Jim McLean (Conservative)
Victoria Palmer-Dyer (Greens)
Luke Reid (Scottish Family Party)
Amer Siddiqui (Alba)
Paul Smith (Conservative)
Mark Turnbull (Freedom Alliance. Stop the Great Reset)
