Was it democracy or a card game? Well it was really a bit of both.
Last Thursday, after votes called by Argyll and Bute Council’s opposition to oust the ruling administration ended in a draw, a new council leader and provost were elected by the cut of a deck of cards.
You could hear a pin drop in Kilmory Castle in Lochgilphead as councillors’ jobs and hefty salaries hung in the balance.
By pure luck, both challengers from the Strategic Opposition Partnership (SOP) drew higher cards than the incumbents from The Argyll, Lomond and Islands Group (TALIG).
After a vote for a new provost tied 18-18, the office bearer Maurice Corry, Conservative Councillor for Lomond North, cut a two of diamonds - the lowest card. Independent Councillor for Mid Argyll Dougie Philand easily beat this hand with an eight of clubs, becoming our new provost.
After the next vote for a new council leader tied 18-18 too, the occupant, Lib Dem Councillor for Kintyre and the Islands Robin Currie, drew a six of hearts. The SNP’s leader, Councillor for Oban South and the Isles Jim Lynch, beat it with a king of spades, becoming our new top man. It was game over for TALIG.
How on earth did the fate of a council, and a region, come down to a game of cards? After the TALIG administration u-turned on its 10 per cent council tax hike, the SNP seized its moment to grab power. Councillor Lynch said we needed "strong leadership" not "callous politicking" amid a cost-of-living crisis.
In a bold gamble, the SNP-led opposition called a special meeting for April 4 to elect a new council leader and provost.
Usually, if a vote is tied, a top office-bearer has a casting vote. But if you are trying to elect that top office-bearer, and the vote is tied, they are "elected by lot" - chance. Officers keep a deck of cards handy in their pocket just in case, but you could equally draw straws or roll the dice.
It was a feat to get this far. There are 36 seats in the chamber. The TALIG administration ruled with half - 18 seats - uniting nine Conservatives, five Liberal Democrats and four Independents.
The SNP, the biggest single party, has just 12 councillors. To bump up numbers in the opposition, the SNP partnered with Helensburgh Central Councillor Fiona Howard from Labour - a unionist party - plus two other Independents: Councillor Philand and Lomond North Councillor Mark Irvine. That still is only 15 - three short.
To tie, the opposition needed the support of three unaligned councillors. One was the Greens’ Councillor for Oban North and Lorn, Luna Martin. While there is the power-sharing Bute House Agreement between the SNP and Greens at the Scottish Parliament, there was no such agreement at Argyll and Bute Council.
The second was Independent Councillor for South Kintyre Jennifer Kelly, elected to the seat held by her father Donald Kelly, a former Conservative and Unionist councillor who resigned saying the council needed a "right shake up".
The third was another Councillor for South Kintyre, Tommy Macpherson, once a Conservative and now an Independent Unionist, who quit TALIG after expressing "serious misgivings" about how it operated.
The SNP-led bid won over all three. How? The SNP leader’s pitch was not a nationalist rallying call. Instead, it offered to give power back to local communities - area committees of councillors and community councils. "We have to listen more," they said. TALIG pitched stability. The SOP pitched change, and won, on a card cut. Now they must govern.
To maintain that tie of 18, the nationalists must keep together a coalition with unionists, from the left and right, who will hold the balance of power. For a majority, they must also woo at least one councillor from TALIG, who they have just criticised, and cleared out saying it’s time for a change. It will be interesting to see who, if anyone, crosses the floor - and why.
A new administration, with new policy leads for education, health, economy, transport and other departments is due to be agreed at the next council meeting on April 25. Before then, on April 15, councillors will consider the council tax freeze, which every side now wants, so it will likely pass.
Explaining why he sided with the rebellion, Councillor Macpherson said: "TALIG, these past two years, was lacking in cohesion and teammanship. It had become ineffective, inefficient and disconnected from the weekly challenges being faced by taxpaying, working households."
"You just voted to put the SNP and the Green Party in power. You are not a Unionist," replied TALIG’s outgoing Policy Lead for Economic Growth, Kintyre and the Islands Councillor Alasdair Redman, another former Conservative and now an Independent.
"Hopefully the opposition, which I am now part of, will make it difficult for the SNP and their coat-tailing fake unionist supporters to do anything too extreme.
"Their numbers are impossibly tight and they have to keep a clown car coalition of chaos all voting the same way. That will be very hard for the administration to do in every vote."
Council Leader Lynch will have to play his cards right again and again. Time will tell if his was a lucky draw at all.
Yes! I would like to be sent emails from West Coast Today
I understand that my personal information will not be shared with any third parties, and will only be used to provide me with useful targeted articles as indicated.
I'm also aware that I can un-subscribe at any point either from each email notification or on My Account screen.