Scottish Labour councillors on Aberdeen City Council suspended

Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale - Image credit: Holyrood

Scottish Labour has suspended all nine of its councillors on Aberdeen City Council after they defied the party leadership to form a coalition with the Tories.

Any coalition agreements entered into by Labour councillors have to be approved by the party executive.

This follows a commitment by Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale that the party would not enter into coalitions on Scottish local authorities with any party that supports austerity.

Last night a panel of the Scottish Executive Committee of the Scottish Labour Party rejected a proposed power-sharing deal in Aberdeen with the Conservatives and independent councillors.

The nine Aberdeen councillors were given an ultimatum of abandoning the powersharing deal by 5pm today or facing suspension from the party.

Since that deadline has now passed, the party says it has contacted each councillor to inform them they have been suspended from the party with immediate effect, pending investigation.

As a result, there are now no Labour councillors in Aberdeen.

Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale said: “Labour values must always run through any deals in local government.

“The hundreds of thousands of Scots who vote for us have the absolute right to expect us to defend local services against cuts and properly fund the services that so many people rely on such as education and care for the elderly.

“Labour cannot do any deal with another party if it would result in further austerity being imposed on local communities.

“Tory austerity risks hurting so many families in Aberdeen, and the Labour Party simply will not stand for that.”