Joshua King
Veteran north-east councillor Peter Argyle has been chosen as the new Liberal Democrat group leader.
The announcement comes amidst negotiations over a coalition deal to take charge of Aberdeenshire Council.
The Liberal Democrats met yesterday to choose a successor to Banchory councillor Karen Clark, who stood down from the local authority before last week’s election.
The party picked up two councillors on Thursday, and now holds the balance of power in the chamber at Woodhill House.
No coalition deal has yet been struck and both a Conservative-Liberal Democrat or SNP-Liberal Democrat administration could work.
However, Mr Argyle was a prominent member of the Alliance coalition with the Conservative and Aligned Independent groups until an SNP coup in 2015.
His election to the post of group leader may be a signal a Tory deal is imminent.
Mr Argyle represents the Aboyne, Upper Deeside and Donside ward and has been a councillor since 1999. He served as chairman of the region’s infrastructure committee for seven years and has sat on regional transport partnership Nestrans.
Speaking after yesterday’s meeting, Mr Argyle said: “It is a great honour to have been elected by my colleagues and I am truly grateful for their support and confidence in me.
“There is no doubt that the years ahead will be difficult for the council; equally there is no doubt that Liberal Democrats will continue to make a significant contribution to the council.
“We stood on a manifesto entitled ‘putting Aberdeenshire first’ and that will be our focus over the next five years.
“We will continue to discuss the shape of this council over the coming days.”
Last night, Conservative group leader Jim Gifford – who was council leader under the Alliance administration – said: “We had some good discussions with a number of groups today.
“There is a deal to be done.”
