‘An absolute privilege’ Dundee Lord Provost Ian Borthwick retires after nearly 60-years of council service

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Dundee’s Lord Provost Ian Borthwick has retired after nearly 60-years of service to his city. The 83-year-old is the longest serving councillor in Scotland.

He was first elected in 1963 - when John F Kennedy was the president of the United States and building started on the Tay Road Bridge.

At his final council meeting this week he described his time in local politics as “an absolute privilege.”After thanking his family - wife Linda, who tragically passed away in her sleep in 2021 after 41-years of marriage, and children Ian and Amy - he spoke with great pride about Dundee and its people.He said: “To be given the opportunity to help, support and to encourage the people of this fine city is what I am most proud of and of course, laterally in my role as the Lord Provost of the City of Dundee.“It is the role of Elected Member and now Lord Provost that is most important in being able to have influence to deliver a better future for our citizens and I believe over the last 59 years I have achieved this.“I remember a considerable time ago a recently elected councillor was asked “John, how does it feel now you are a councillor” and his reply was “well when I got up this morning and put my feet on the floor, the linoleum was just as cold”.Cllr Borthwick initially represented Labour for the city’s Dudhope ward.DundeeLive brings you the latest headlines from Dundee and beyond.But did you know you all the ways you can stay informed with us?You can get our top stories sent straight to your inbox with our daily news updates.

Simply fill in the sign up box further up this article or click here.Make sure you give us a 'Like' on Facebook to get the latest Dundee breaking news, pictures, video and live reports in your feed.You can