Coalition has certainly raised a few eyebrows — but Jimmy is a steady hand

ANOTHER May and another election is over.

That is three Mays in a row the public has had to endure political candidates seeking their vote. Fortunately there is a two-year break until the European election (though it’s not really a proper election).

Apparently there is some sort of political campaign under way for the independence referendum but, judging by the national mood, most people are choosing to ignore it.

In their own way the most recent general, Scottish and council elections have had interesting outcomes – if politics can ever be described as interesting.

There is a coalition government at Westminster, the first peacetime coalition for 80 years.

The SNP had a remarkable result last year and won an outright majority in Holyrood, something the electoral system was designed to prevent.

And in the Highlands we now have the first politically-led administration in council history.

The unlikely SNP/Liberal Democrat/Labour coalition has certainly raised a few eyebrows as well as the heckles of independent councillors.

The independents make up the single biggest "group" on the council but are not a majority so do not have a right to be part of the administration.

That said, it is entirely understandable they would expect to be part of a governing coalition, as not many would have predicted the SNP and Labour being part of the same ruling group.

IT won’t come as much of a surprise that there has been a lot of debate within Highland Labour about the party’s councillors’ decision to power share with the SNP, their fiercest political adversaries.

For me though, it is not about whom the Labour group did a deal with but more about the quality of the deal the group got. And in my opinion Labour got a very good deal.

After all, it only has eight of Highland’s 80 councillors but has managed to both be part of the administration and secure the highest possible job of council convener for the party’s group leader, Jimmy Gray.

Jimmy, as many of you will already know, is originally from Thurso but is a councillor in Inverness where he has just spent four years as the city’s first Labour provost. By all accounts he was a success and popular in the role, or so he tells me at least!

It can only be to Caithness’s advantage that we have one of our own – albeit an exile – in such an influential position on the council.

Jimmy is, without doubt, the most able and recognisable Labour figure in the Highlands and it is to the party’s advantage that he now has a high-profile role that covers the entire region and is not just limited to Inverness.

From a Caithness perspective this is particularly relevant as Labour gained seats in both Wick and Thurso on May 3.

Neil MacDonald and Roger Saxon both worked incredibly hard and were rewarded with outstanding results. I know they are looking forward to working with Jimmy to deliver as much as they possibly can for the county.

Gaining two council seats shows Labour is making real progress in Caithness again after some difficult years.

The party managed to buck the trend at the general and Scottish elections by increasing its vote significantly (despite the quality of the candidate) and Neil and Roger’s results are further confirmation Labour is again becoming a force to be reckoned with in the county.