...for the Liberal Democrats in Inverclyde, long serving Councillor George White has resigned from the party. The gang of four has become the gang of three, with Liberal Democrats on the Council now outnumbered by the 'Others'.
How they must long for the heady days of 2003 when they swept to power with 13 out of 20 Councillors. Where did it all go wrong?
While I have a lot of time for George - we have always had a good personal relationship - I would be surprised if his constituents are not now questioning his commitment to Inverclyde, and Gourock in particular, given how desperate he seems to be to stand in Argyll and Bute. Can we assume that if he is unsuccessful in being elected to the Scottish Parliament next year, he will be moving to Argyll so that he can stand for the Council there in 2012?
George's defection to the Scottish Liberal Party raises once again the morality of someone being elected on the ticket of one party switching parties during a term without resigning and seeking the endorsement of the electorate. I am sure that some of George's more vocal constituents will have a view on this.
It also makes the Council even more 'interesting' in terms of political balance. Long gone are the days of two-party politics, with the Council now being made up of 8 Labour Councillors, 5 SNP, 3 Lib Dems, 1 Conservative, 1 Scottish Liberal Party, 1 Independent (ex Labour) and 1 truly Independent.
Bring back first past the post: all is forgiven!
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I have to say that I found this move a bit confusing. It took me a while to work out who the Scottish Liberals actually were as Google kept bringing the search back to Scottish Lib-Dems. Now, having found out that Mr White is the only Scottish candidate I'm even more confused. Just what is it that he hopes to achieve by effectively becoming an independant who i'm assuming will not align himself with the lib-dems, labour or the SNP when it comes to local politics. I think it's also fair to assume that he won't give the electorate the choice they are entitled to until 2012. A poor show allround by George and the Lib-Dems too if this is the way they treat a long-serving party member.
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