Labour take control of West Dunbartonshire Council after surprise election success
dailyrecord.co.ukLabour have taken control of West Dunbartonshire Council, winning an outright majority for the first time since 2012.All 12 of the party’s candidates across Dumbarton, the Vale and Clydebank were elected - with Lomond member Martin Rooney expected to be confirmed as the new leader of the council later this month.Rooney previously held the role between 2012 and 2017, and vowed that the new administration would “hit the ground running.”Outgoing council leader Jonathan McColl of the SNP said he and his party would “scrutinise the work of the Labour administration in a worthwhile way.”McColl’s SNP lost one seat overall - with former council leader Ronnie McColl failing to win in Leven, where Caroline McAllister had triumphed for the party in 2017.Meanwhile the Conservatives, who caused a shock in 2017 by winning two seats, were wiped out - as Lomond representative Sally Page and Dumbarton’s Brian Walker both failed to be re-elected.An indication of what was to come arrived as the first ward was declared, with Labour’s Hazel Sorrell - who previously served as a member between 2012 and 2017 - elected alongside the leaders of both the SNP and Labour groups at the expense of Conservative Sally Page.Further good news for Labour came in Leven, as both Michelle McGinty and the long-serving John Millar were elected alongside veteran Community Party member Jim Bollan and the SNP’s Ian Dickson.However there was no return to frontline politics after a decade for Ronnie McColl, father of SNP leader Jonathan, who saw Labour return two members in the ward.Kilpatrick remained the same, with Labour duo Douglas McAllister and Lawrence O’Neill joined by a new face in the SNP’s Gordon Scanlon.Dumbarton meanwhile aligned with Leven - returning
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