Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

‘Local issues and not national Brexit row to be election focus’

Post Thumbnail

A brace of independent Aberdeenshire councillors have said election candidates should focus on local issues and not become embroiled in national rows over Brexit and Scottish independence.

The Democratic Independent and Green Group councillors, Paul Johnston and Martin Ford, are standing for re-election to Aberdeenshire Council on May 4.

Mr Johnston (Democratic Independent) and Mr Ford (Green) represent the Mid-Formartine and East Garioch wards respectively.

Mr Johnston said: “I am happy to stand on local issues as this is not a national election. It’s not about Brexit or IndyRef 2.

“It is about housing, roads and paths in our towns and villages.

“It’s about teacher shortages in our schools and protecting our environment and creating great places to live.”

He added his belief that the council needed to do more to “engage” with communities and residents.

Mr Ford argued that the council had witnessed an “eventful” term, both nationally and locally, since the last election in 2012.

The authority administration changed hands in 2015 when an SNP and Labour-led coup seized power from the Conservative-Liberal Democrat- Aligned Independent Alliance group.

That shift in power was made possible by a “confidence and supply” deal struck between the Digg duo and the new administration.

Councillors Ford and Johnston agreed to support the minority administration in any confidence vote in exchange for including their ideas on the council’s agenda.

These included a new £100,000 budget for youth work, £150,000 investment in traffic calming measures and road speeding reductions as well as Scotland’s first council carbon budget to monitor and reduce harmful emissions.

Mr Ford added: “It has always been a privilege to represent the area where I live on the Council. I am keen to continue working for the good of the area and so am standing for election again on May 4.”