Tories at Aberdeenshire Council are growing frustrated at the slow progress of their leadership, amid speculation there could soon be calls for a fresh face at the top.
The administration still does not have a programme of business or a joint manifesto, causing concern in the party ranks.
And several councillors have laid the blame with Conservative leader Mark Findlater.
Sources have suggested that, when Mr Findlater was chosen for the role, a deal was struck within the party to replace him if he had not proven himself by the 100-day mark.
That milestone was passed on Tuesday – but any action from the party would need to wait until the local authority’s summer recess ends next week.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, Tory figures said they had no knowledge of the time limit, though they admitted there was widespread dissatisfaction with the lack of pace.
However, several other councillors and council sources said they had been made aware of the 100 day clause.
One said there had been reservations at the start of his leadership so a timescale was set in order for him to prove himself.
As his 100 days came to a close earlier this week one source said: “There has been frustration.
“There were priorities set out and a joint manifesto before the first full council meeting five years ago.”
There are concerns, however, that there is no obvious alternative to replace him with.
Who is Mark Findlater?
Former bomb disposal expert Mr Findlater was elected to the Aberdeenshire Tories leadership by his colleagues on May 8, three days after they emerged as the largest party in the local elections.
The Troup councillor beat fellow party grandee Gillian Owen to the position, reportedly winning by one vote.
After almost two weeks of negotiations, a coalition deal was announced between the 26 Tory and 14 Liberal Democrat councillors, alongside six independents.
A day after that announcement, Mr Findlater made his inaugural address to the council chamber in Doric, memorably describing the place as a “bear pit”.
‘I have heard nothing of this’
And three months on, the claws could be out as the administration he leads lags behind previous iterations in setting out its priorities for the coming years.
Mr Findlater said: “I have heard nothing of this, within the 25 councillors in our administration.
“We bucked the national trend in Aberdeenshire, actually increasing the number of Conservative councillors we have.
“We’re working through things right now, we’re working out our joint manifesto and we’ll have our council plan sorted for November. We’ve got a lot of big budget decisions to make.”
He added: “At the last council meeting, this was discussed, why we didn’t have our plan.
“Well, we’re working through this to make sure we get it right, because there’s so many things that have been happening in this world and in Scotland lately.
“You look at the cost of living crisis that we’re going through, and opportunities that have come our way like the Just Transition Fund, that we’ve got to take on board.
“We’ve got a lot of things to go through and get it right, and we’ll be working more on it in the next few weeks.”
No fast-track to leadership change
If the group decides it would prefer a different leader, the process is far from simple: after picking their replacement, they would need to get the rest of the administration to agree with the choice before a full council vote is held.
In 2020, Andy Kille took over the top role at the Aberdeenshire Tories from Jim Gifford, who resigned from the Conservatives and sat as an aligned independent in the face of an expected vote on his leadership.
Mr Kille became Aberdeenshire Council leader in November of that year, after being proposed by then-deputy leader Peter Argyle. He decided not to run in May’s election for health and family reasons.
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