STEVE FINAN: Dundee City Council needs independent thinkers, not political sheep

By Gbam Godwin On Oct 16, 2025

STEVE FINAN: Dundee City Council needs independent thinkers, not political sheep.

Local parties are pointless and contribute to the ascent of undesirable individuals.

It’s party conference season, when politicians make outrageous claims and hollow promises. They take these fairytales and make them into a manifesto, knowing that they can subsequently alter, dismiss, or deny their existence.

I have little good to say about political parties. I do not trust any of them. Anyone who is a member of a party and blindly accepts all of their policies is an intellectual weakling.

I refuse to allow anyone tell me what I think. I weigh the facts, consider all sides of the debate, and make my own decision.

In this column, I discuss issues, not petty carping and sniping among small gangs of councillors with the lofty title of “local politics”.

‘At a local level, political parties are pointless’

Local parties are futile and contribute to the ascent of undesirable persons. Check out Dundee City Council.

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Several would never be elected to public office based solely on their merit. They were elected because of the party name next to their own on the ballot.

They sit in the city chamber, smug and confident, convinced of their own importance but with no track record to back it up.

When was the last time one of them expressed their own views or voted against members of their party?

Take a look at their social media accounts; they’re filled with national party political content and virtually little about Dundee.

I have little respect for these sheep.

I would want independent representation, with councillors that want to benefit Dundee rather than promote a political party.

Take the £248 million plan for active travel routes, which is profoundly unpopular among Dundonians.

Or Raac in former council houses.

Alternatively, close Broughty Castle and Dundee’s golf courses. Consider whether a councillor looking into these issues, consulting with Dundee residents, and then making their own decision is preferable.

Or a councillor who needs to wait till their party expresses its opinion?

Steve Finan hopes to see independent Dundee City Council candidates at next local election

I hope that the inability to prioritise Dundee will eventually catch up with these glove puppets.

I hope there will be independent candidates running in the next municipal election, or at least those considering doing so – I am thinking about it myself. A congress of independents would not function, but a very basic manifesto could.

It would just be a promise to listen to constituents and prioritise their feedback. A council of independents couldn’t be worse than our existing no-marks.

Perhaps they will have the fortitude to tell council officers to perform a better job? Alliances could emerge on specific concerns, or an entirely new alliance on a different issue.

‘In a council election, vote for sensible, reasonable, independent candidates’

For starters, the excessively expensive cycling pathways plan may be given a more reasonable timetable; build it when and if there is a proven demand.

I want to emphasise that voting in a municipal election does not require you to abandon your convictions or constitutional politics.

All I ask is that you keep them for national elections, when they are truly important. In a council election, vote for rational, reasonable, independent candidates who will, above all, do their best for you and your community.