Alan Cochrane will be delighted

The SNP has a new councillor in Dundee, Craig Melville won, taking 48% of the vote in the Maryfield ward. That's where I grew up so it can't be any coincidence that it's now the first ward in Scotland to have all of its councillors coming from the SNP, can it?

First Preferences:

SNP 1550 48%
Labour 1013 31%
LibDem 354 11%
Tory 224 7%
SSP 52 2%
Independent 35 1%
Independent 28 1%

Other notable Dundonians will be as delighted as me, Alan Cochrane, that fine chap who writes for the Telegraph (not the proper Tele, the funny one), will be dancing with pleasure (honest, he will), Brian Taylor will be musing deeply (he's got to stay impartial), Jim McLean (born in Larkhall but an honorary Dundonian) will crack a smile, George Galloway will tickle his bombast and Mike Watson (not a real Dundonian - can't even speak Dundonese) will light a candle.

Interesting point, though, Dundee has been controlled by a Labour/Lib Dem coalition since May 2007, having taken the administration with the support of the Conservatives (actually a similar deal to the 2003-2007 administration), and the new councillor makes the political make-up of the council rather special:

SNP 14
Labour 9
Lib Dem 2
Conservative 3
Independent 1

The independent, Ian Borthwick is a true independent - a Labour councillor a long, long time ago (in the old regional council if memory serves) but long since gone his own way - and it's not easy to predict what he'll do. The next council meeting should be interesting!

Dundee doesn't have its problems to seek at the moment, with NCR closing down its manufacturing plant (keeping the R&D) and Texol closing its doors as the recession bites. It's going to be a long road back for the city and it'll need the energy and enthusiasm of everyone involved to put it back on its feet.

Gordon Brown's comment at Labour conference in Dundee last week that the city was in a great state because it's got a Labour council is ringing pretty hollow, especially since his 'joke' has its root in a poor joke relating to run-down areas here and the WTC towers. I'll use Craiglang (of Still Game fame) as the surrogate area:

Two unemployed labourers from Craiglang, seeing the devastation of the attack on the World Trade Center, decide that they should go and do what they can to help. While they're working away at Ground Zero clearing debris, President Bush appears and chats to them, thanking them for their efforts.
Noting the accent, he asks where they're from.
"Craiglang" they reply.
"Craiglang?" says Bush "I don't know the place, what state is that in?"
"Same state as this place."

Yes... Boom followed by boom. If you thought the joke Gordon Brown told was just poor humour, knowing where it comes from makes it worse, doesn't it?

Ach well, I assume Mr Fawkes will be pointing to Mr Brown's visit and Labour's subsequent loss?