Catholic city council leader resigns

 

 

— Glasgow City Council’s Stephen Purcell quits his post in mysterious circumstances

 

March 5 2010

 

By Ian Dunn

 

THE Catholic leader of Glasgow City Council has resigned in mysterious circumstances.

Stephen Purcell, 37, was widely regarded as one of the Labour Party’s brightest young talents and a potential future First Minister of Scotland.

In a statement issued by his lawyer, Mr Purcell (pictured right) was said to be ‘in the care of professionals’, receiving medical help for a stress-related condition.

 

Breaking point

The statement said Mr Purcell had reached breaking point in recent weeks, after a difficult period that included the stream of damaging revelations about SPT (Strathclyde Partnership for Transport).

His deputy Jim Coleman will temporarily assume leadership of the council.

“The Labour group has accepted Councillor Purcell’s resignation as leader,” Mr Coleman said. “What’s important now is that the people of Glasgow know that, as far as the council is concerned, it’s business as usual. The administration will continue to provide leadership for the city as a whole. As always, our focus is firmly on Glasgow’s priorities.”

 

Rise to top

A former bank worker, Mr Purcell was first elected unopposed as leader of the local authority in Scotland’s biggest city in May 2005, when he was just 32, overseeing an annual budget of £2.2bn and some 37,000 employees.

His skill with PR means he will be largely remembered as the man responsible for Glasgow’s successful bid to host the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

His political career began with a meeting with Donald Dewar when the late First Minister visited him and his classmates at St Thomas Aquinas Secondary School in Scotstoun. He had signed up as a Labour Party member at 14, left school at 16 and began work at Abbey National on a youth training scheme.

One of the reasons he gave for leaving full-time education early was so he could earn enough money to go to Celtic games. By 18, he had bought his first flat and by 22, he was Scotland’s youngest councillor and Labour’s rising star, representing the ward of Blairdardie.

He became the city council’s convener of Development and Regeneration Services between 1999 and 2003, helping oversee the transformation of the Clyde pioneered by the man he replaced as city leader, Charles Gordon.

He then moved to education, where he helped deliver a £220m PPP project to refurbish or rebuild the city’s 29 secondary schools, including St Thomas Aquinas.

He has recently faced political hostility over his decision to oversee a shake-up of Glasgow’s primary schools.

Despite protests, his council pushed through the closure of 11 schools and nine nurseries that were suffering from poor buildings and falling rolls.

 

Private pain

Two years after becoming the city council’s youngest ever leader and hailed by Tony Blair as a ‘visionary civic leader’, Mr Purcell faced one of the most distressing periods of his life. In 2006 he announced he was gay and had separated from his wife of more than five years, Katrina Murray, who co-chaired the STUC.

Mr Purcell said he felt the need to come out about his sexuality following increasingly distracting rumours about his private life.

“It was a very difficult period and it was difficult for all of our families,” he said at the time. “After a long number of years, I had finally accepted the person I was. It was a very mixed feeling, one of great difficulty, but also, when the dust had settled, one of relief.”

Despite his homosexuality, he remains a Catholic. His determination to keep his personal life private has meant that he has not spoken about how he reconciles his sexuality with his Faith when questioned on the matter.

 

 — ian@scottishcatholicobserver.org.uk