Voters across a rural area will go the polls next week, with a by-election being held.
Four candidates are bidding to represent the Lomond North ward of Argyll and Bute Council, following the resignation of Barbara Morgan in October.
And they have all been invited to state their case by answering five questions, as well as submitting a short video, which can be accessed on the links below:
Robert MacIntyre (Independent)
The ward includes the Rosneath Peninsula, Garelochhead, Rhu, Shandon, Arrochar, Tarbet and Luss.
Council elections in Scotland use the Single Transferable Vote (STV) system, as explained in this video produced by the Scottish Government for the most recent full council elections, in 2017:
A list of polling stations for the Lomond North Ward is available here.
I am glad to note that Mark Irvine has confirmed that he will not be joining the TALIG Administration in the Council if he is elected at the by-election on 16 December 2021. As a truly Independent councillor, I can confirm that he will be getting my vote. If elected, the Conservative candidate will be joining the other Conservative and Liberal Democrat councillors on the Administration. I am disappointed to note that Robert MacIntyre has confirmed in his statement that he will also be joining the Conservative and Liberal Democrat councillors on the Administration.
I learned over 10 years ago that if you are a member of the Administration, you do as you are told and vote how you are told and cannot put the communities you represent first. When I put my communities first and opposed the proposals to close three primary schools in my ward at Kilcreggan, Rosneath and Luss, I was thrown out of the Administration. It is only as an Independent councillor out with the Administration that you can put those who elected you first.
You only have to look at the support that some party politicians within the Administration failed to give to their communities by not attending Community Council meetings on a regular basis to hear the concerns of the communities they were elected to represent, to appreciate the commitment that truly independent councillors out with the administration give to supporting their communities.
I certainly have no concerns over encouraging the electorate to give their first vote to Mark Irvine at this important by-election. Councillor George Freeman.
An elected member cannot be “thrown out” of the administration because they vote another way. Each member within the administration can vote according to the needs of their communities. The administration is formed of Conservative, Liberal Democrats and Independents. The reason is because they need the numbers to form an administration. If they kicked members out for voting differently the administration would fall.
As an elected member, George Freeman shouldn’t be misleading the electorate.
It is better for an elected member to be at the table of policy makers, rather than left behind in the tearoom.
In response to the comments from John McMurtrie above, it is disappointing to note that he is not aware of how politics has worked over the years in Argyll & Bute. I can assure him that I am not “misleading the electorate” and that I was thrown out of the Administration because I would not support the proposal on school closures that included the closure of Kilcreggan, Rosneath and Luss primary school within my ward.
I voted against that proposal on 25 November 2010 and then received an email 4 days later on 29 November 2010 to inform me that at a meeting that day, a unanimous decision was taken to exclude me from any further meetings of the group. Many parents / constituents who were involved in the campaign to save these schools will remember the details well. I confirmed at public meetings in my ward before the Council meeting to consider school closures that I would not support any proposal to close primary schools within my ward.
I can confirm that I have retained all the correspondence relating to this matter. The record shows that on any important issues over the years, those in the Administration do not normally deviate from the Administration line when voting at Council meetings.