JONATHAN McColl says he will look for common ground as the SNP seek to take control of West Dunbartonshire Council in the next few days.

But he's unlikely to work with the two shock Conservative candidates Sally Page and Brian Walker.

The Nationalists won 10 seats in total in this week's election but it's not enough to form a ruling administration.

Scottish Labour lost four seats, taking them out of power and into opposition on eight.

But the biggest shock of the afternoon was the two Conservative candidates, Sally Page and Brian Walker, who were elected to the Lomond and Dumbarton wards respectively.

Making up the new-look council will be Community Party member, Jim Bollan and Independent Denis Agnew.

As a result Mr McColl will have to work with others if he plans to form the next administration.

But it seems unlikely Mr McColl will work with the new Conservative candidates as he claims the party's austerity measures have had a detrimental impact on locals.

He said: “It's been a dramatic and traumatic day.

“But the theme for me is the resurgence in the Tory vote.

“The Labour and Conservative votes have combined together in those one, two and three votes, and, for the first time ever, West Dunbartonshire Council has a Conservative group.

“To have two of them [Tories] on the council is frightening.

“The other thing is, we are the largest group, there's 10 of us, but if Labour and the Tories get together that's another 10.

“I don't know what we are going to do, we have to decide on that in the next couple of days.

“I'm delighted we are the largest group, I would have liked to have won a majority but it wasn't to be, so watch this space.”

Former council Leader Martin Rooney has this afternoon admitted that he will continue to push Scottish Labour values in opposition- after losing his grip on control of West Dunbartonshire Council.

The ruling administration leader saw his party take a political bruising on Friday after two Scottish Conservative and Unionists won seats in the Lomond and Dumbarton wards, coupled with a strong showing by the SNP, ensuring that no one party has overall control of the 22-seat area.

Mr Rooney said: “Our focus has always been on investing on public infrastructure and we'll keep pushing for that because it's unlikely that we'll be able to form a Labour administration. We'll continue pushing our values."

Mr Rooney reckons the Scottish Independence issue has given rise to some defections from the Labour vote to Conservative.

He said: “Historically, parts of the country have voted Conservative but there has not been enough to get them elected in council seats in West Dunbartonshire.

“But it's clear something is driving them forward and it seems the Referendum issue is bringing them together and to such a level that it has got them elected to West Dunbartonshire Council.

“What's interesting here is that we now have SNP, Labour and Conservatives and we'll have true consensus. Neither us, nor the SNP will be able to form a majority, and for the first time in decades we'll have Tories on our council too.

"But the SNP will need to work with someone to form that majority of 22. We'll need cross party support."

 

A full note of the results are as follows:

Ward 1 - Lomond

Number of councillors to be elected - 3

Jonathan McColl, Scottish National Party (SNP); Martin Rooney, Scottish Labour Party; and Sally Page, Scottish Conservative and Unionist.

Ward 2 - Leven

Number of councillors to be elected - 4

Ian Dickson, Scottish National Party (SNP); Jim Bollan, West Dunbartonshire Community Party; John Kelly Millar, Scottish Labour Party; and Caroline McAllister, Scottish National Party (SNP).

Ward 3 - Dumbarton

Number of councillors to be elected - 4

David McBride, Scottish Labour Party; Karen Conaghan, Scottish National Party (SNP); Brian Walker, Scottish Conservative and Unionist; and Iain McLaren, Scottish National Party (SNP).

Ward 4 - Kilpatrick

Number of councillors to be elected - 3

Douglas James McAllister, Scottish Labour Party; Lawrence O'Neill, Scottish Labour Party; and Jim Finn, Scottish National Party (SNP).

Ward 5 - Clydebank Central

Number of councillors to be elected - 4

Jim Brown, Scottish National Party (SNP); John Mooney, Scottish Labour Party; Diane Docherty, Scottish National Party (SNP); and Denis Agnew, Independent

Ward 6 - Clydebank Waterfront

Number of councillors to be elected - 4

William Hendrie, Scottish National Party (SNP); Gail Casey, Scottish Labour Party; Marie A McNair, Scottish National Party (SNP); and Daniel Lennie, Scottish Labour Party.