Jim Gifford devoted decades of his life to the Conservatives, and has waged several election campaigns sporting a blue rosette.
He became something of a Tory mainstay in Aberdeenshire after securing his seat on the local authority in 2007.
While helming the local group, he would eventually rise to become leader of the council.
But following years of growing disillusionment, he tore up his Conservative membership in 2020.
Jim Gifford opens up on recent changes
He is now preparing to run for election as an independent candidate for the first time…
He’s “under no illusions”, admitting there’s a “big risk” he won’t be able to count on the same support as before.
In an exclusive interview with the Press and Journal, he reveals how Brexit splintered the local Conservative group – leading to increasingly bitter personality clashes.
But as he faces the prospect of a council election campaign on his own, does Jim have any regrets about quitting the Conservatives?
Far from it.
He tells us that goings-on at Westminster since 2020 have convinced him he made the right decision.
How Jim Gifford caught politics bug
The Glasgow-born councillor moved to the north-east in the early 1990s to work in the offshore industry, and later ran his own sign manufacturing business from Dyce.
He told how helping to campaign in the Central Belt blossomed into standing for elected office in his own right.
Jim said: “I got involved in the Conservatives in the 1980s.
“That was when we lived in Glasgow and my wife worked as an apprentice accountant for Michael Hirst [former Tory MP and president of the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Association].
“We moved a couple of times and I got to enjoy helping to campaign up here in 1992.
“I’ve ended up standing in every election bar the European one, I’ve stood for Westminster, Holyrood and locally.”
So what changed?
Rifts emerged in the local group over members’ differing opinions on Brexit (which Jim describes as “a horrendous decision”).
The tensions reached boiling point when the Tory and Liberal Democrat-led administration had was asked to put forward either its support of, or objection to, leaving the European Union during a meeting.
Jim said: “We took a view as an administration that we should oppose the Brexit decision.
“There was such an exchange of views in the Conservative group, we tried not to knock lumps out of each other…”
Jim is careful not to offend any former colleagues but alludes to “some people” in the north-east branch “not representing the party I joined”.
He adds: “It was more to do with certain personalities, to be honest…”
When he left, Fraserburgh councillor Andy Kille took over as leader of the group and authority.
Tory source downplays spats
A Conservative source told us: “We all had some big differences of opinion over the years – we get to have our own voices unlike some parties.
“Local members wanted a new group and council leader who would be better suited to modern council. It was all done amicably and he quit the party later on.”
‘Absolutely shameless’
But the Whitecairns resident insists that, had he not handed in his membership in 2020, the recent “party-gate” scandal would have caused him to.
He said: “This nonsense at Westminster was the most unbelievable state of affairs.
“I’ve never been as angry as I have been on the back of those revelations.
“We didn’t see our daughters for nine months when these guys we’re behaving like that… It’s absolutely shameless.
“So no, I’ve not regretted it for a moment.”
Jim Gifford: ‘I swithered about joining another party…’
Jim shares a desire to see local politicians set aside their party beliefs when it comes to making council decisions.
But belonging to the Tories has helped him out in the past three council votes, being able to count on the automatic backing of many Conservative voters.
That means he may now be in for the toughest election campaign of his career.
“It’s a huge risk and we have seen examples where people have resigned from a party and not got in as an independent”, he said.
“I swithered about joining another party, but I’m enjoying being an independent. I’m done with party politics.
“It’s going to be a challenge though.”
If this is the end of his political career, it seems Jim is at peace with going out on his own terms.
On Monday… Jim tells us why he is setting his sights on a different constituency in the May election.
