Glasgow's loss is of a leader who still had much to do

THE sudden and unexpected resignation of Steven Purcell from his position as leader of Scotland's largest local authority is a loss to Glasgow, to the Labour Party and to the wider Scottish body politic.

Mr Purcell's departure after five years as leader deprives his city, his party and this country of a rising political star, who most observers believed was destined for even greater office.

Those who observed Mr Purcell's rise through the ranks in Glasgow Labour politics cite his time as education convener, when difficult though necessary decisions to close schools with falling rolls were made, as the period which moulded his political philosophy.

He took a similar modernising outlook with him to the leader's job, where he pragmatically joined with the SNP-led Scottish Government to compete for, and win, the right for Glasgow to host the 2114 Commonwealth Games.

A large part of this bid was to ensure that Scotland's largest city, which still suffers from many of the problems of post-industrial decline, was regenerated and there would be a lasting economic legacy to help secure his objectives of greater social justice.

Yet for all his consensual approach over matters such as the Commonwealth Games bid, Councillor Purcell was not averse to picking a political fight with the SNP if he felt it was in the Labour Party's interest to do so.

His battle with First Minister Alex Salmond, with whom he worked closely over the Games, on the Glasgow Airport Rail Link, proved that he was able to engage in a partisan battle if he chose, though in this newspaper's opinion, the benefits of this project to the city, and Scotland, were not apparent.

Mr Purcell's most recent challenge had been to deal with the fallout from the expenses scandal at Strathclyde Partnership for Transport, which led to the resignations of several senior board members and the chief executive.

Last night, this pressure, and other burdens, was cited by Mr Purcell's lawyer – who spoke for him and not, oddly, the council – as the reason why he was now recovering from exhaustion in the care of medical professionals.

On a personal level, it is to be hoped that Mr Purcell recovers, but this resignation does raise questions about his ability to cope with the great stresses and strains of high office.

At this stage, therefore, it is not possible to say if Mr Purcell will, or indeed should, seek to regain a senior role at the authority, where he will remain a councillor, or even try to secure a seat at either Holyrood or Westminster.

If he is to do so, his time as leader and senior councillor at the local authority will provide his political 'CV'. In this, he will be seen as a councillor who has significant achievements to his name, but, as he no doubt would admit, had much still to do.

Glasgow has a lot to thank Steven Purcell for, but the judgment today must be that he was a leader of talent and vision, but that he was not in office long enough to allow the country to judge whether he would have fulfilled his potential.