Frank McAveety to stand down as Glasgow council Labour leader

Glasgow City Council Labour group leader Frank McAveety has announced he will stand down as leader at the group’s upcoming AGM.

The former MSP has led the Labour group since 2015 and was the council leader for a period before Labour lost their majority in the 2017 local elections.

He said that it is now time for a new generation of Labour leadership to take the role.

McAveety was elected to the Scottish Parliament for Glasgow Shettleston in 1999 and held his seat until 2011.

As MSP he held a variety of roles, including deputy minister for local government, deputy minister for health and community care and minister for tourism, culture and sport

He lost his Holyrood seat in 2011 to the SNP’s John Mason and was elected as councillor for the Shettleston ward the following year.

Before becoming an MSP, McAveety had been the leader of Glasgow City Council from 1997 to 1999.

McAveety said: "It has been an incredible privilege to lead Labour’s team in Glasgow and despite our difficult times in recent years as a party, preventing the SNP achieving an overall majority in Glasgow at the council elections in 2017 has provided Labour with a good base to regain the trust of Glasgow voters 2022.

"The Labour Party is revitalised under Keir Starmer and it’s time for a new generation in Glasgow to lead that important fight

"Our city should not be used by the Nationalists as a battering ram for independence.  Glasgow should be Scotland’s number one priority and providing the right resources and powers to Scotland’s largest city should be the Scottish Government’s priority too."

He added: “I have been given the opportunity to serve as Glasgow’s leader on two occasions, first in 1997 and again in 2015, and I am proud of how we changed the face of Glasgow. 

“We now have some of the best public housing in Europe following the housing stock transfer and the city’s investment in early years learning and in schools is providing the best opportunity for our young people to flourish.”