THE leader of Dundee City Council has been appointed chair of the Scottish Cities Alliance.

The partnership between Scotland’s seven cities — Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness, Perth and Stirling — and the Scottish Government was set up to boost economic growth through investment in infrastructure and technology and has raised more than £125 million since 2011.

Councillor John Alexander replaced former Edinburgh City Council leader Andrew Burns as chair of the group at a meeting on Wednesday where the alliance agreed to pursue an “inclusive approach working across political boundaries”.

Alexander said: “The alliance is an important way of showing the rest of the world what this country has to offer and by combining our different attributes we can create stronger propositions for investment that will enable the cities to achieve their ambitions for sustainable economic growth. This appointment reflects and adds weight to Dundee’s ongoing regeneration and it is an honour to have been invited to do it.”

Economy Secretary Keith Brown said: “Working together through the Scottish Cities Alliance, we can drive forward inclusive growth for our cities, with the wider benefits being felt across the Scottish economy.

“I would like to extend a warm welcome to Cllr John Alexander as the new chair of the Alliance.

“We are all pulling towards the same goal of making our cities even better places to live, work and invest.”