Highland Council leader to seek re-election
The leader of Highland Council has confirmed that he will seek re-election in May.
The vastly experienced Councillor Dr Michael Foxley will stand as a candidate in his Lochaber ward on May 3 in the council elections which are being held across Scotland.
The retired GP has led the council’s Independent-Liberal Democrat-Labour coalition administration since 2008 and is the longest serving councillor in the Highlands, having entered local government in 1986.
Councillor Foxley (Fort William and Ardnamurchan) has presided over a controversial cost cutting exercise which sought £57 million of savings over a three-year period but defended the administration’s performance.
"We had an exhaustive consultation about the budget with the public, there have been cuts and there have been some difficult and painful decisions," he said.
"I am very pleased with the track record of the administration in the last three-and-half years.
The leader of the council’s Lib-Dem group said he enjoyed the public role and it was about "getting things done".
But he insisted the election was the chance for Highland residents to vote for the candidate who represented them the best on local issues, like improvements to schools and roads, and claimed party politics largely did not come into play.
During his time on the local authority Councillor Foxley, who works a croft in Lochaber, has been a champion of the Gaelic language and campaigned for improved further and higher education in the region.
Last November he won the Scottish Local Politician of the Year Award in Edinburgh for his efforts on issues such as the threat to coastguard stations and emergency tugs and the reform of the Crown Estate
