Susan Aitken has formally stood down as leader of Glasgow City Council, insisting the city remains a "safe" place despite a turbulent decade in charge of Scotland's largest local authority.
The Langside councillor led a minority SNP administration through a period marked by mounting criticism of the condition of the city centre and rising fears over anti-social behaviour. Glasgow has also struggled to address a growing homelessness crisis, partly driven by a rising number of refugees seeking shelter in the city.
Auditor warning and documentary scrutiny
A damning report by auditors last week warned the local authority could effectively go bust unless rising spending on temporary accommodation is dealt with. Aitken recently refused to be interviewed for a BBC Disclosure documentary that found open drug-dealing around St Enoch and followed some of the semi-regular far-right protests causing disruption for shoppers and residents.
However, in an interview with rival broadcaster STV last night, she insisted her time in charge of Glasgow had been a success.
Aitken defends her record
"I am, yes, absolutely," Aitken said when asked if she was proud of her record. "There are always frustrations and regrets, things that you wish you might have been able to deal with differently at the time.
"I'm confident the city is in a better place than it was when I became leader in 2017. But I think I'm also confident that it's in a better place than it would have been, were I not here, because all of these things would have happened anyway, Brexit, COVID, cost of living crisis and international conflict.
"I think that we, as a city, have responded as effectively as we can to a lot of those challenges."
Safety and next steps
She continued: "I do believe Glasgow is a safe city, but I believe that Glasgow is a city like all other cities, which are also experiencing and seeing these similar types of increases."
"We are seeing the legal and social rights of women and girls, and not just women and girls, LGBTQ+ people and people of colour as well, people of ethnic minorities, being reversed, and that is, I believe, the real issue that is causing an increase in crimes of sexual violence against women and girls.
"I have walked through the city centre regularly. I did so last Saturday, in fact, I came to the phased reopening of George Square, it was brilliant. Then I spent some time with friends and walked through merchant city.
"I'm not saying it isn't an issue. We know there are some hotspots in the city centre right now, where there is visible anti-social behaviour and visible criminality.
"We're working with our colleagues with Police Scotland, clearly they take the lead on that."
Aitken has already been replaced as leader of the SNP group in Glasgow by Ricky Bell, who will also now take charge as council leader.
