Island voice at the heart of CoSLA as Orkney’s Councillor Steven Heddle elected new Vice-President

Orkney Islands Councillor Steven Heddle – who was convener of OIC from 2012-2017 – has been voted in as Vice-President of the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (CoSLA).

Councillor Heddle, who represents Kirkwall East as an independent, was elected at Friday’s (June 17) CoSLA Convention in Edinburgh.

SNP Councillor Shona Morrison, from Moray, was elected as President.

Councillor Heddle said: “I am delighted to be elected Vice-President of CoSLA, and that my local government colleagues have put their faith in me.

“I’ve been working at CoSLA in different roles for the past ten years- first as a Council Leader, then as a CoSLA spokesperson- so this is in a sense an evolvement of my work nationally. It is undoubtedly quite a responsibility to work with the President to ensure the harmonious operation of Local Government’s representative organisation, representing 32 councils who face very different challenges but who all have a common purpose to do their best for the people in their council areas in what is really quite a harsh environment at present.

“Despite different political viewpoints the council leaders who come to COSLA work very well together and a key part of our role is represent their consensus firmly and clearly to our national governments and beyond to achieve the best results for our communities and the country.”

“I’d like to offer my sincere congratulations to Shona Morrison on her election as COSLA’s new President. We are both from the north of Scotland so have a lot in common and I am sure will work well together. I’m also very grateful to the Independent group at COSLA and James Stockan as group leader for their support and the work he did behind the scenes to make my election possible.”

Councillor Heddle is from Kirkwall and studied at Aberdeen and Edinburgh Universities, gaining a BSc and PhD in Physics. After working for both the public and private sector in Research and Development, he returned to Orkney in 1999 where he ran a business and technical consultancy and worked for HIE.

First elected in 2007, he was OIC Convener from 2012-2017, during which time he shared the 2013 Herald Local Politician of the Year Award and 2014 Scottish Public Service Award for Leadership. He served as President of the CPMR Islands Commission from 2014-16, as a board member of NHS Orkney from 2015-17 and as a member of the CoSLA Commission for Strengthening Local Democracy. He was CoSLA Spokesperson for the Environment and Economy from 2017-2022 and is a visiting professor at the University of the Highlands and Islands.