Combining the roles of Inverness provost and city leader will backfire on Highland Council’s new administration and prove a political minefield, according to a senior opposition councillor.
The idea will be considered later today.
Liberal Democrat group leader David Alston last night condemned the proposition.
He said: “What the council’s been doing since 2007 is moving towards separating civil and political roles. This move would be a backward step for Inverness and put it at odds with every other city in Scotland.
“It’s been done without consulting Inverness councillors and it’s been done basically so the leader of the independent group can deliver on deals she has made with colleagues. It’s nothing to do with what’s best for Inverness.”
Council leader Margaret Davidson’s Aird and Loch Ness ward colleague and fellow independent group member Helen Carmichael is widely tipped to take up the combined role of the two jobs carried out for the past three years by LibDem Alex Graham, who was “civic” provost, and the SNP’s Ian Brown who was city leader, which was defined as a “political” role.
It is unclear if there are rival candidates for the new position.
Today’s full council meeting will decide on the change. If it is agreed, it will be for the Inverness area committee to appoint someone.
Acknowledging there was some irony in an “independent” group making such a decision, Mr Alston said: “It has been done entirely for political reasons. What it shows is that, when the chips are down, the independents are the most political of groups.”
He added: “It is much better to have a civic head, detached from the rough and tumble of politics.”
Mrs Davidson, who heads an independent-led minority administration following the Lib Dems’ decision to quit their power-sharing alliance with the SNP and Labour, could not be contacted yesterday.
There are mixed feelings, however, among opposition councillors.
Labour group leader and former Inverness provost, Jimmy Gray, said: “I don’t have a problem with merging the roles, although there’s a lot of time and work involved in doing the job.
“I don’t think you need to have separate roles. But it was previously a single role and I don’t recall it ever being a problem.”