Outgoing Shetland Islands Council leader Cecil Smith says “a lot of good things” have come out of his time as a council member – and maintains that “personal reasons”, rather than political fallouts, were behind his decision to step aside.
The veteran councillor announced last week that he was relinquishing the position after nine months in charge following weeks of unrest behind the scenes over the ferry funding deal the SIC secured from the Scottish Government.
SIC deputy leader Steven Coutts will take on the senior post in the interim, with council convener Malcolm Bell expected to wait until a meeting in early May before asking members to appoint a permanent replacement.
Later in the week, he oversaw his last meeting as leader and revealed what had prompted his decision.
He said: “I suppose there’s been the issues of the ferry funding – I’m sure you’re aware of that – and there’s not been any huge fallout among members.
“We have our differences of opinion – that happens in politics every day, not only in Shetland Islands Council but wider afield, and I’ve stepped down for personal reasons. It’s nothing to do with a fallout with members, there’s been nothing of that.”
Mr Smith had regular disagreements with environment and transport committee chairman Ryan Thomson in particular during recent months. Those were heightened when Smith accepted an offer of £5 million from Scottish finance minister Derek Mackay to plug the local authority’s ferry funding gap.
The SIC had been seeking £7.5 million and, while Orkney Islands Council received the full £5.5million it had been after, some members were irked that Smith accepted a lesser amount without consulting other senior councillors – while there were more general criticisms of his leadership style too.
Mr Smith said that when he took the role on following last year’s council elections he was “quite sure in my own mind that I wouldn’t do it for five years”.
Reflecting on almost 11 years as a councillor, he said he had “always worked for the benefit of the Shetland community and the folk”. The former police officer is in particular proud of the role he played in ensuring the new Eric Gray care centre – currently nearing completion at Seafield – would come to pass.
He has also been involved at a time when the council has got to grips with its spendthrift habits of old. Yesterday members heard that the council’s oil reserves are now worth around £365 million – a far cry from just a few years ago when questions were being asked about whether a £250 million minimum floor was achievable.