Glasgow City Council appoints Ricky Bell as new leader

Glasgow City Council has elected Ricky Bell as the new leader of the local authority.

Bell was previously depute leader and replaces Susan Aitken, who announced in May that she was to stand down.

The Govan councillor has been leader of the city's SNP group since Aitken left the position in May, and has also served as the city's treasurer since 2020

He told BBC Scotland News earlier this month that it was unfair Glasgow council tax payers are "carrying the burden" of housing refugees for the "whole of Scotland".

The SNP, Labour, the Greens and Your Party all proposed candidates, with Bell taking 39 votes to 29 votes for Labour's candidate Rashid Hussain.

Prior to the vote Bell said he believed he was the "best candidate" for the role and that he would "stand up" to both the Scottish and UK governments when required.

He also vowed that his leadership would be focused around Glasgow and not on playing party politics.

Last week he told BBC Radio Scotland's Breakfast programme that Glasgow needed more funding or a change in the law that would see more people housed outside of the city.

His comments came as it was revealed that almost half the city's homelessness applications were from people with refugee status or leave to remain.

The local authority said the cost of addressing applications from refugees was £38m in 2025-26, with the money coming from council funds and likely to grow.

Bell said homeless applications had "gone up significantly" and called for action by the Scottish government.

He said: "Glasgow is carrying the burden for the whole of Scotland and that can't be right."

"It can't fall on the taxpayers of Glasgow to support all of these people across the whole country, so the government needs to look at changing some of its policies."

Scotland's public spending watchdog the Accounts Commission also warned last week that the council is facing a "critical" point in a bid to turn around its finances.

Council elections will be held next year.

Bell previously worked as a finance and commercial executive across several news organisations, including Johnston Press, the former publisher of the Scotsman newspaper.

He was then elected as a councillor in 2017, forming part of Glasgow's first ever SNP-led administration.

First elected in 2012, Aitken was leader of the SNP group in opposition before becoming council leader after the 2017 council elections.

The Langside councillor is the longest serving leader since the council was formed in 1996.