The votes are counted and we now know the elected members that will make up Orkney’s next council – but what happens now and who might become council leader?
While relief will have come with the announcement of the successful candidates, as of next week they’ll go into a comprehensive induction process at Orkney Islands Council.
This will give them information, equipment and support so they can get into their role as quickly as possible.
They’ll each also be signing on the dotted line and accepting the role of councillor.
This will all get underway as soon as Monday morning.
Part of this process includes a statutory general meeting on May 16, at which the roles of convener, political leader, deputy leader and the committee chairs will officially be decided.
Induction process to begin on Monday
The recently elected members will decide amongst themselves who takes up these roles.
Inevitably, there has been plenty of speculation as to who might become what.
The previous council leader is James Stockan.
Publically, he has been cagey about whether he wants to hold onto the role or not.
Before Mr Stockan took up the leader role, it and the convener role were one and the same and held by Steven Heddle.
Both Mr Stockan and Mr Heddle held onto their seats with the new council.
Mr Heddle called being leader of the council “one of the hardest jobs in Orkney” during recent hustings events, but he may wish to give it another go now that the convener and leader duties have been separated.
The next council will also include John Ross Scott, who may not have been with Orkney council as long as Mr Heddle or Mr Stockan, but he was a councillor in the Scottish Borders for 23 years and was leader there for 2 of them.
Asked if he wanted a leadership role he said the highest he would want is to become chairman of a committee.
However, he did say people have tried to press him into taking on a higher role.
Do Orkney’s two previous council leaders want another go in the role?
He said: “I’ve looked at who might take on one of these roles. For the leader, we really need someone who will push the Scottish Government into giving us the money we need for ferry funding.
“The two people I thought would make good leaders are Steven Heddle and Leslie Manson.
“But Leslie Manson is reluctant to take on any role. Steven has also said he found the leader role to be very strenuous.
”Although, when he did it the leader and convener roles were combined.”
As for the convener role, Mr Scott said he feels it should go to a female councillor this time.
Leslie Manson served as the deputy leader of the last council.
He’s also returning for another five years. Mr Manson turned 69 on Friday on the day of the count.
He says he’s made the decision to “pass the baton” as far as leadership roles go.
He said he won’t even be looking to take on a committee chair or vice-chair role.
Former deputy leader rules himself our for any leadership role
He said: “You’ve got to recycle, you can’t keep on with the same old, same old.
“However, I’ve very much enjoyed being a deputy leader to James Stockan.
“He gave us the leadership and vision that we needed at a time when we were forced to move into a new paradigm.”
Mr Manson said he would endorse Mr Stockan to become leader again.
He added: “The bottom line is that we have not got the government funding to meet the needs of our community.
“We’ve been trying for a long time and have struggled to even get funding for replacing the ferries. I’m totally committed to exploring the need for new income generation – like our wind farms and the harbours masterplan.
“It’s James’s leadership and vision that crystalised this need. I think it’s a job half done that needs to be finished.
“It should be him that takes that forward.
Former leaders should stay the course with their roles in previous council says former deputy leader
“There are other capable people in the council, Steven Heddle for example.
“Steven has a lot of experience but he has had a senior leadership role in COSLA. He has become an influential and successful national politician.”
Mr Manson said, to have Mr Stockan as council leader and keep Mr Heddle working as he has been, would be “playing to each of their strengths”.
He said this set-up would also be best for the whole of Orkney.
On the issue of convener, he, like Mr Scott, felt it should be a woman to take on that role.
He said he felt there was such “a calibre of female councillors” on the new council that the best person for the role would be one of them.
However, he added that “to give any names would be too speculative”.
The convener of Orkney’s last council was Harvey Johnston, who decided not to stand this time.
Many suspected Mr Manson’s Kirkwall West and Orphir colleague in the last council, Barbara Foulkes, would be well-suited to being convener. However, Mrs Foulkes failed to retain her seat on Friday.
