Councillors have narrowly approved a move to apply for the “restoration” of the title of Lord Provost.
At a meeting of Perth and Kinross Council on November 15 councillors were asked for their approval of the application.
The request was made by PKC’s Conservative administration but prompted some fiery opposition.
In his motion Perth City Centre Conservative councillor Chris Ahern said: “This is not a request for a new title, it is for ‘the restoration’ of the title of Lord Provost which was held by the City of Perth for over 300 years. In 1975 it was unjustly removed from Perth because of the formation of Tayside and Perth and Kinross.
“Perth was the only city in Scotland to lose its ancient civic honours.
“Given this history and the opportunity in next year’s Platinum Jubilee this is the ideal time to apply. The title will greatly enhance the status and standing of Perth as a city in Scotland well into the future and it will assist in enhancing civic pride - just as city status did.
“Having a Lord Provost would put Perth on a par with Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Dundee. It would elevate Perth’s ambition to be considered as a small, but prosperous and high achieving European city, and raise Perth’s profile nationally and internationally.”
He added: “Given that we have now been restored city status and the Stone [of Destiny] will be returning to Perthshire it would seem logical to have the title of Lord Provost restored as well.”
Cllr Andrew Parrott said the move was “not proper.”
He said: “This is not a restoration. It establishes a difficult precedent. The previous Lord Provost was of the borough of Perth. This would be of Perth and Kinross.”
PKC’s head of legal confirmed there would be no direct financial sum attributed to this honorary title and there would still be a Lord Lieutenant.
The depute provost Kathleen Baird - chairing the meeting - expressed a desire to “hasten the debate” as SNP councillors asked questions after the motion was put forward.
Members of the SNP group expressed disappointment they had not been presented with a chance to ask questions.
Independent Cllr Xander McDade asked to move to the vote. Labour councillor Alasdair Bailey seconded this procedural motion.
There were 22 votes in favour (CON, LAB, IND) and 18 votes (SNP, LD) against.
There was no amendment put forward and the motion to apply for the title of Lord Provost was approved.
Several SNP councillors asked to record their dissent including the SNP group’s leader Grant Laing.
Cllr Laing said: “My dissent is not to moving towards the Lord Provost title. My dissent is to the way this debate has been handled and the inability to discuss this.
“Maybe it should have been brought through as an officers’ paper and we could have thrashed out and known the costs, etc and what we were voting for: if this is a title for Perth or Perth and Kinross - all these clarifications we weren’t allowed to ask.
“I’m not against the idea in principle but the way that this has been handled in this meeting and democracy is the loser.”
