A pair of the Scottish Parliament’s newest MSPs have confirmed they plan to stay on as Fife councillors until local authority elections are held next year.
Nationalists Bill Walker and David Torrance say they both intend to juggle their roles as elected members on Fife Council with their new jobs as MSPs after their successes in the Holyrood elections.
It was initially unclear what would happen to their respective council ward seats as the euphoria of the SNP’s stunning victory dominated the headlines, but attention has now turned to what their Scottish Parliament victories will mean in practice for the people of Fife.
Mr Walker, who is an SNP councillor for West Fife and the Coastal Villages, pulled off what many people considered a shock victory in Dunfermline when he defeated Labour’s Alex Rowley and Lib Dem Jim Tolson.
Despite the added pressures on his time, Mr Walker confirmed he will continue as a Fife councillor until the local government elections in 2012.
“My position is that I’m staying on just for the year of course for all sorts of reasons; not only because there would be the expense of having a by-election, but mainly because it’s not really a long time now before the elections next year.
“I’ve been encouraged to stay on as a councillor and there’s been no pressure on us to resign, although I’ve asked my group to find replacements for some of the committees that I’m on as I won’t have the time to devote to all of them.
“But I’ve got a lot of helpers in my team and they will be some of the eyes and ears in the ward, while I’ll obviously do the job of councillor as it’s supposed to be done. Maybe unlike some other people, my ward is wholly within my constituency, so there’s a good bit of overlap there.”
Mr Walker, who is still a registered chartered engineer, admitted he was particularly sad to have to give up his role on the strategic environment, enterprise and transport committee at Fife Council, while he confirmed he is also likely to stand down as a member of the Forth Estuary Transport Authority (FETA).
He will, however, remain on the council’s south-west Fife area committee a role that brings a smile to Mr Walker’s face.
“It’s strange because that committee’s chair is Alice McGarry, and I’ll now have her sister Tricia Marwick to contend with in the parliament as presiding officer,” he said.
Mr Torrance, meanwhile, has similarly confirmed he will stay on as a Fife councillor until next spring.
“I’m just going to keep on until the end of the year just to ensure we have a smooth transition,” he said. “At the end of the day, we’ve only got a year to go, and yes it will be hard work for the next year, but I’m sure we will be able to combine the roles. I’ll step down from the council when the next council elections are called.”
Mr Torrance ended the 12-year reign of Labour’s Marilyn Livingstone as constituency MSP for Kirkcaldy last week.