Independent councillor Brian Connolly has revealed how the battle for control of South Ayrshire Council went down to the wire.
Councillor Connolly and independent colleague Alec Clark had served as part of the last administration and had been expected to side with the SNP, who had agreed to two portfolios.
They revealed that they had also been offered roles by the Conservatives, even before the election.
However, the decision by Labour to abstain from voting for a new administration saw the Conservatives do a u-turn on its decision to nod through an SNP-minority administration.
Maybole and North Carrick councillor Connolly said: “We were approached, pre-election, by the Conservative group leader, and offered two portfolios that ‘weren’t dependent on election results’.”
These portfolios were Sport and Leisure for Cllr Connolly and Tourism and Rural Affairs for Cllr Clark.
He continued: “After the election we were in discussion with Peter Henderson regarding the proposed administration, who we made fully aware of the Conservative offer, and had agreed the positions for both Independents, Regulatory Chair for myself and Tourism and Rural Affairs for Alec.
“On Tuesday we were approached by Cllr Dowey and informed there had been a ‘material change’ in that the Labour Group had been instructed to abstain at the council meeting and he had the numbers with the 10 Conservative councillors and the two new Independents to form the new administration.”
There was a further twist in the tale the day before the meeting, when it appeared that former Conservative turned independent Councillor Hugh Hunter had decided to abstain and that the control of the council could come down to a ‘cutting of the cards’.
At this point, both Cllrs Connolly and Clark said they would back the SNP as they had agreed to support them should the Conservatives not have the numbers for a majority.
It wasn’t until the meeting itself that it became clear that the Conservatives once again had the numbers for a majority.
He continued: “This was the situation as we sat down for full council and we voted with the SNP proposal for the provost position, defeated as you know, on the assumption that Cllr Hunter had changed his position, again, and supported the Conservative proposal.
“Not unusually, we had no part in the political decisions on the administration posts and abstained during this process.”
Cllr Connolly said that the Conservatives told them that the offer of the portfolios was still on the table, even though they had abstained.
He explained: “Both these posts are an ideal fit for rural Independent councillors and we had no hesitation accepting the offer.
“The alternative was to have no role of any influence for five years which would have been a total abdication of our duty to our constituents.”
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