Leaders Column

Gordon Matheson, Leader of Glasgow City Council

I was delighted to be elected as Leader of Glasgow City Council in May. It is a great honour for me personally, and a challenge I look forward to immensely.

My key priorities for the city are improving education and early years, supporting skills and the economy, and providing targeted support for the vulnerable.
This is a challenging and exciting time for Glasgow. There are unquestionably difficult economic times ahead, but together we will work through this period and come out stronger.
The scale of the challenge faced by Scotland’s councils in the coming years is huge. However, Glasgow is not afraid to take difficult decisions and we’ve started that process already. Central to all of our decisions will be a desire to protect and deliver effective front line services.
Nonetheless, it is crucial that the Scottish Government treats local authorities equally and fairly. Glasgow has received a smaller share of any increases in resources in recent years and I will fight to make sure that they do not force the city to take more of the pain when the cuts come.
Glasgow and Edinburgh are Scotland’s economic powerhouses and asking them to take more than their share of cuts would seriously damage the Scottish economy. Over the coming months, I will continue to stand up for Glasgow and fight to protect the services we deliver.