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Daily Record
Daily Record
Politics
Chris McCall & Paul Hutcheon

Labour boss on Glasgow City Council survives leadership contest following party vote

The leader of the Labour group on Glasgow City Council has survived an attempt to oust him from the top job.

George Redmond was only appointed to the role last year but has faced internal criticism over the party's direction.

A vote of Labour members today saw Redmond win 20 votes, with challenger Phil Braat securing 15.

Former MSP and town hall veteran Frank McAveety was also reelected the party's business manager.

Labour lost control of Scotland's largest local authority in 2017 but came within just one ward of winning it back at council elections last year.

Malcolm Cunning, the party's former chief in the city, lost a leadership vote to Redmond shortly after the election.

Glasgow is now run by the SNP and Greens, with the two pro-independence parties signing a power-sharing deal in June 2021.

The city council has struggled to maintain public services at a time of below-inflation rises to its budget from the Scottish Government.

The local authority was also forced to effectively remortgage several of the city's best known public buildings to help settle a long-running equal pay dispute.

Labour had previously dominated municipal politics in Glasgow for decades but saw its support wane following the 2007 SNP election breakthrough at Holyrood.

The party formerly held every Westminster and Holyrood constituency in the city before facing electoral wipe-outs in 2011, 2015 and 2019.

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