By Claire Warrender

THREE DECADES of Labour rule came to an end in Fife yesterday when the SNP and Liberal Democrats signed a historic coalition agreement to take control of the council.

The deal, sealed with a kiss between SNP leader Peter Grant and Lib Dem leader Elizabeth Riches, is yet another blow for Labour in a region which was once a heartland for the party.

It follows Willie Rennie’s stunning Westminster by-election victory for the Lib Dems over Labour in Dunfermline and West Fife last year, and the loss of two previously safe Holyrood seats at the Scottish Parliament elections.

As Kirkcaldy MP Gordon Brown stepped up his campaign to become the next Prime Minister, he would have been more than happy to see his right-hand man in Fife—Labour group leader Alex Rowley—take the council’s helm.

However, after days of intensive negotiations Labour was unable to reach an agreement with either of the other two groups.

Talks are said to have broken down over Mr Rowley’s plans to introduce a cabinet-style system of government where many decisions would have been taken behind closed doors.

“We felt the cabinet structure was too closed and people would not be able to see what was going on,” Mrs Riches said. “We didn’t think that was the way local government should be carried out.”

Mr Grant said people themselves had called for change and had urged his members not to “prop up” a Labour administration.

With the Nationalists and the Lib Dems failing to strike a deal at Holyrood, at first glance the two could be seen as strange bedfellows within Fife House. But, while acknowledging there are major challenges ahead, the two group leaders have pledged to work together for the good of Fife.

One of their top priorities will be to restore the education budget, slashed under the previous Labour administration to help to pay for other services. They have also vowed to review the controversial Fife structure plan which has major implications for some areas, including Cupar where 1400 new houses are planned alongside a new bypass.

Other priorities include addressing the need for affordable housing, including investigating the possibility of building new council houses for the first time in many years; introducing more environmentally-friendly policies; and protecting and enhancing frontline services.

They also intend to decentralise decision- making with the creation of several small area committees, each with their own budgets, to be held at a time more suited to local people.

Labour is the largest single group with 24 members, one more than the SNP and three more than the Liberals, but leader Alex Rowley has accepted he will not be administration leader, saying yesterday he would instead concentrate on forming an effective opposition.

Specific posts within the new administration have yet to be announced but Mr Grant has been tipped as leader with Mrs Riches as deputy.

Mr Grant said, “Our joint administration will provide strong leadership and direction and does not underestimate the tasks ahead for all.

“The major challenges that face the new administration will include reversing the decline in education standards, meeting the ever increasing demands on limited resources, addressing the need for affordable housing and the growing inequalities in our communities.”

Mrs Riches added, “Our positive agenda is based on real decentralisation by empowering local communities to take those decisions which matter to them.

“We will be moving from policies that centralised decision-making to ones that allow differing priorities to be acted upon.

“All future policies will be green-proofed, energy audits will be carried out on council buildings and recycling rates will take Fife to the top of the Scottish league.”

Mr Rowley said Labour agreed with many of the new coalition’s policies and predicted a more consensual style of politics in Fife.

However, he promised to scrutinise the administration as part of a determined opposition.

“We accept this Lib-Nat pact has been done and they intend to form the administration,” he said.

“We intend to be very much focused in opposition to tackling the issues we put forward in our manifesto. Where the Lib-Nat pact brings forward policies we think are good for Fife, we’ll support them. Where they don’t address issues we’ll challenge them.

“I wouldn’t say I’m disappointed. I would be more disappointed if I had sold my soul to strike a deal.

“My position from day one was we should not take positions for the sake of it and should not be behaving in a way to get power for the sake of power and wheeling and dealing as a result of that.”