WITH five parties represented across the chamber alongside several independents, Inverclyde is certainly one of the most politically diverse councils in Scotland.

But it looks like it will be a straight shootout between Labour and the SNP for control of the local authority come next month.

Historically, Inverclyde was a battleground between Labour and the Liberal Democrats but since 2007, the political palette has become much more mixed at Greenock’s Municipal Buildings.

The current make-up of the chamber is eight Labour councillors, five SNP, two Conservatives, one Liberal Democrat, four independents and two Alba members who defected from the SNP last year.

Labour have spent the last term in a minority administration after striking a deal with the Tories, independents and the sole LibDem councillor, but it’s proving tricky to predict who will be in the strongest position to take control for the next five years.

The SNP even have a chance to clinch a majority, having fielded 12 candidates, but they would need all of them to win.

Council leader Stephen McCabe, who is one of a select few candidates across Scotland to be automatically elected in an uncontested ward, said the main aim for his Labour group is to hang onto the seats they have but he has hopes they may be able to add one more to the pack.

He admitted polls were looking rosy for the SNP but didn’t think they would secure enough victories for overall power.

He told The National: “When you look at the national dynamic compared to 2017, it would appear the SNP are riding high in the polls, but their vote may have plateaued. There’s also polls out there showing Labour ahead of the Tories in Scotland and the UK.

“So I would say the national situation is a bit more favourable towards Labour than it was in 2017 and that may be helpful to us, but there’s always local dynamics that come into things as well.

“A good result for us would be eight seats and an excellent one would be nine, as that would be a gain for us.

“I think ward four [Inverclyde North] could be a crucial seat in deciding who is the largest party out of us and the SNP. It’s a question of who out of those two ends up with the biggest party and then can have a first shot at forming an administration.

“The SNP may feel they can get 10 but no one is going to get more than that I don’t think.”

Meanwhile, SNP group leader Elizabeth Robertson – who is looking to reclaim her seat in Inverclyde North – said the party is going all out for the win and believes all of the candidates are capable of securing seats.

She said: “We feel the campaign is going really well and we’ve had really good feedback from speaking to people on the doorsteps.

“I feel we have run a positive campaign and got our message out there and we know there’s plenty of support for the SNP out there, we just hope people come out in their numbers.

“We have fielded 12 candidates who are knocking the pan in and there’s not one person we feel is a paper candidate. Winning 12 would give us a majority and that is our ambition. We are going out there to win.”

Inverclyde grew out of the historic county of Renfrewshire and covers the main towns of Greenock, Gourock and Port Glasgow as well as the coastal villages of Wemyss Bay and Inverkip and over in the East, the likes of Kilmacolm and Quarrier’s Village.

It is one of the smallest local authorities in terms of area and population in Scotland but is brimming with shipbuilding and cultural history and gorgeous scenery along the firth of Clyde.

But the area has been beset with problems such as a declining and ageing population and severe poverty in recent years.

Back in 2020, Greenock town centre came out as the most deprived area in Scotland according to the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD), taking the spot from Ferguslie Park in Paisley.

McCabe believes the Labour administration have milestones to be proud of from the past five years but hopes to continue working with other councillors to address long-term poverty issues.

He added: “Our biggest priority [in the last term] was delivering our school estate strategy and we’ve completed that over the last five years. So every single school is either new or improved.

“We’ve also worked on the expansion of childcare provision quite successfully.

“There are other challenges we as a council continue to face. There is no doubt we still have issues around poverty and deprivation which are longer-term issues that you will never resolve in five or maybe even 10 years.

“We are continuing to do as much as we can to address poverty but delivering change is often difficult with these long-term issues because of funding cuts.

"This council has also been through Covid and one of the achievements of the council has been supporting the community through that. I think we rose to that challenge with the support of communities, the voluntary sector and businesses.

“When people reflect on the past five years, I think that’s what they will think of.

“A big part of our administration has been getting agreement among all the political groups on the council. I think it’s better when everyone is working together because we all live in Inverclyde and want to see it as a better place and I hope we can continue to do that.”

Councillor Robertson said the cost-of-living crisis was a huge talking point among communities as people who were already strapped for cash are now facing even more financial difficulty.

If her group is able to form an administration, her hope is they could work more closely with the Scottish Government to create jobs and tackle deprivation.

She added: “A lot of the chat on the doorsteps has been around the cost-of-living increase which very much feeds into the fact we do have an issue with poverty in Inverclyde.

“We don’t want to be defined by it but as a council we can’t escape it and the cost-of-living is exacerbating what’s already there now. So, I think we need to be making sure all political spheres are trying to put money in people’s pockets where we can and we need to be saying yes to opportunities for investment and creating jobs.

“I think there’s a bit of reticence at the moment to work with the Scottish Government in the council because we have different political colours.

“We’ve got an opportunity to say we can’t do everything on our own. We need partners in the Scottish Government. I hope we would be able to work with them to help tackle poverty and make sure jobs are created and sustained in Inverclyde.”