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Article: Put 'local' back into local government
- Article from:
- The Scotsman
- Article date:
- February 16, 2004
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 2004 The Scotsman. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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I SAT last week in the elegant private office of Donald Anderson,
Edinburgh city council's political supremo. He is not your typical
Labour local government apparatchik. Urbane and thoughtful, he
affects no exaggerated workerism or hatred of the middle class like
many of his colleagues. After five years as the capital's boss - a
thankless, underpaid calling - he is relaxed in his job. Last May, he
steered Labour to an overall majority in the municipal elections when
many (me included) thought a coalition with the Liberal Democrats was
inevitable.
Indeed, he is having the last laugh as far as the tax-and-spend
Lib Dems are concerned. Last week, the new Lib Dem/Tory
administration in ...