Gordon Matheson

Councillor Gordon Matheson CBE
Leader of Glasgow City Council
In office May 2010 – 10 September 2015
Preceded by	Jim Coleman (interim)
Succeeded by	Frank McAveety
Personal details
Political party	Scottish Labour Party
Domestic partner	Stephen Wallace
Residence	Glasgow

Gordon Matheson CBE is a Scottish Labour Party politician and a former leader of Glasgow City Council.

Career

Educated at Glasgow and Strathclyde universities, he was first elected to the city council in 1999. Re-elected in 2003, 2007 and 2012, he represents the Anderston/City ward. He served as Bailie, Justice of the Peace, Executive Member for Education and City Treasurer, before being elected leader in May 2010.^[1]

In the May 2012 local government elections, he led the Scottish Labour Party to victory, increasing the share of the vote by 3.4% and securing an overall majority in Glasgow. This was despite predictions that Labour would lose control of Glasgow to the SNP.^[2]

As leader, he has established the Commonwealth Jobs and Graduate Funds; committed Glasgow to bid for the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics; launched a major revamp of George Square; approved a scheme to reduce Glasgow's landfill by 90%; introduced winter fuel payments to pensioners; and embarked on the refurbishment or rebuild of every school in the city. In November 2012, Matheson was named Local Politician of the Year at The Herald's Scottish Politician of the Year Awards.^[3]

Matheson was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2015 New Year Honours for services to local government and the community.^[4][5]

In June 2015, Matheson announced he would stand in the 2015 Scottish Labour Party deputy leadership election, following a rule change allowing councillors to stand for the position, although he was unsuccessful.^[6] After losing the deputy leadership election in August 2015, he announced that he would stand down as leader of Glasgow City Council from 10 September in order to focus on winning a seat in the Scottish Parliament in 2016.^[7]

Controversies

On 12 December 2012, Matheson was reported to the procurator fiscal in Glasgow after allegedly having been caught by police in the Cathcart area of Glasgow performing an oral sex act with an undisclosed 38-year-old male.^[8][9] However, no charges were ultimately brought, after the Procurator Fiscal's Office decided that there was insufficient evidence against him to bring criminal charges.

On 28 April 2013, The Sunday Herald reported that Police Scotland's Major Crime and Public Protection unit was investigating Councillor Matheson for impropriety regarding the George Square renovations. This comes after the Royal Incorporation of Architects Scotland made a complaint that the competition for the design to renovate George Square was run in contravention of strict European guidelines on procurement and that Councillor Matheson tried to "fix" the results. ^[10][11] However, on the 11 June 2013, the Herald newspaper reported that the police would be carrying out no further investigation into the matter, signalling that they had found no criminal aspect to Councillor Matheson's conduct.

Personal life

He lives in Glasgow with his partner, Stephen Wallace.^[12]

References

1. "Gordon Matheson chosen as Glasgow City Council leader". BBC. 10 May 2010. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
2. Edward, Debi (7 May 2012). "SNP expected to 'snatch Glasgow from Labour' in Scottish elections". ITV. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
3. Dinwoodie, Robbie (16 November 2012). "Sturgeon crowned The Herald Scottish politician of 2012". Herald Scotland. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
4. The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 61092. p. N9. 31 December 2014.
5. "2015 New Year Honours List" (PDF). Gov.uk. Retrieved 2016-08-17.
6. Whitaker, Andrew (15 June 2015). "Gordon Matheson in Scottish Labour leadership bid". The Scotsman. Retrieved 22 June 2015.
7. Nicoll, Vivienne (18 August 2015). "Gordon Matheson to step down as Glasgow City Council leader". Herald Scotland. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
8. "Glasgow council leader Gordon Matheson reported over alleged indecency". BBC News. 18 January 2013. Retrieved 18 January 2013.
9. "Fears for Glasgow council leader's future over sex act". Herald Scotland. 18 January 2013. Retrieved 18 January 2013.
10. Gerry Braiden (2013-04-26). "Glasgow leader Gordon Matheson faces police probe call (From Herald Scotland)". Heraldscotland.com. Retrieved 2016-08-17.
11. "Glasgow City Council's Gordon Matheson defiant over George Square". News.stv.tv. Retrieved 2016-08-17.
12. Gordon, Tom; Hutcheon, Paul (20 January 2013). "Gordon Matheson's fall from grace...will he hold on to job...and for how long?". Herald Scotland. Retrieved 27 January 2013.