A bid to oust one of Aberdeenshire longest serving councillors as chairman of a powerful committee failed yesterday.
Members of the local authority’s new ruling administration were thwarted in their attempt to replace Carl Nelson from his role as head of the Kincardine and Mearns area committee.
Labour group leader Alison Evison tabled two motions which proposed putting SNP councillor Graeme Clark in the place of Conservative Mr Nelson.
The committee’s three SNP members – Alistair Bews, Jean Dick and Greame Clark – united with Mrs Evison and Labour colleague Raymond Christie and Independent Dave Stewart.
However, Mr Nelson held onto his position after he and his opposition colleagues – Conservatives Wendy Agnew and George Carr and Liberal Democrats Bill Howatson, Peter Bellarby and Ian Mollison – voted to keep him in.
With the balance split at 6-6, the casting vote went to the existing chairman.
The Partnership – a coalition between the council’s 28-strong SNP group, Labour and two Independents – took the reins at the council at the start of the month.
Last night Mr Nelson – who has served as a councillor in Portlethen for 23 years – said: “I was very disappointed it came to a notice of motion on this.
All we are interested in is serving the people of Kincardine and Mearns and Aberdeenshire, not politics.
“We have got to work together, that is more important than wasting time in this sort of nonsense.”
Mrs Evison said: “We lodged the motion to replace Carl Nelson because we believed a fresh approach to the area committee would be beneficial as we move forward to the new challenges of the coming months.”