Councillor
Jim Bollan
Councillor, West Dunbartonshire Council
Assumed office
3 May 2007
Serving with Cllrs Ian Dickson, Caroline McAllister, John Millar
ConstituencyLeven
In office
6 May 1999 – 2 May 2007
ConstituencyRenton and Alexandria South
Personal details
Political partyWest Dunbartonshire Community Party (since 2016)
Other political
affiliations		Scottish Socialist Party (2000–2016)
Independent (1995–2000)
Scottish Labour Party (1980s–1995)
Communist Party of Great Britain (until 1980s)

Jim Bollan (born c. 1950) is a councillor in West Dunbartonshire, representing the West Dunbartonshire Community Party. Until 2016 he was a member of the Scottish Socialist Party (SSP), having been the only elected representative from that party left in Scotland.

Political career

Bollan, at one time a member of the Communist Party of Great Britain, was elected as a Labour councillor for Renton and Alexandria South ward in 1988, later becoming the party group leader on Dumbarton District Council.[1][2] He was elected as an Independent representative on West Dunbartonshire Council in the 1999 local elections, defeating Labour and Scottish National Party (SNP) opponents. He went on to join the SSP and was re-elected in 2003, defeating an SNP opponent.

Bollan has not been a prominent figure in the SSP at a national level, but he has been involved in the campaign against conditions in Cornton Vale women's prison, as his daughter was one of a number of women prisoners who have committed suicide there.[3][4] He has been an opponent of the Trident programme for many years and has taken part in many protests against their presence at the Faslane base, including those organised by Faslane Peace Camp.[5]

In May 2009, he was suspended from the council for nine months for alleged misconduct after he was refused permission to address the council on changes to workers' terms and conditions imposed by the new single status arrangement, describing the manner in which the council drove through changes as "shite" and "a stitch up".[6] His suspension was protested by Socialist Resistance and the Secretary of Clydebank Trades Council, Tom Morrison.[7]

Bollan was selected as the no. 1 candidate for the SSP in the West Scotland region for the 2011 Scottish Parliament election, but failed to win the seat. In the 2012 local elections, he was re-elected fairly comfortably as a councillor, coming second and winning on the first count.

In November 2013, Bollan resigned from the GMB in protest of its "dictatorial and undemocratic" decision to campaign against Scottish independence.[8]

In February 2015, Bollan announced that he intended to stand down at the next council election in 2017. He told the Dumbarton and Vale of Leven Reporter: "I don't believe you should go on and on in these elected positions forever. Come the elections in 2017 I will have been a councillor for 28 years and I believe this is a sufficient amount of time to have been in that role."[9] After his announcement, messages of support flooded in on social media.[10] However, in August 2016 he decided to stand again in the 2017 local elections for the West Dunbartonshire Community Party, which he had formed with fellow councillor George Black.[11] He was once again re-elected in Leven ward, coming in second place with 22% of the vote.

References

  1. ↑ J. M. Bochel and D. T. Denver, Scottish District Elections, 1988, p. 49. electionscentre.co.uk. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
  2. ↑ ""I won't bend the knee. I stick to my principles": An Interview with Jim Bollan". 18 October 2013. Retrieved 4 November 2013.
  3. ↑ "'Justice' plea over prison suicide". 1 February 2000. Retrieved 4 November 2013.
  4. ↑ "Inquiry after woman's death in prison". The Herald. 24 May 1999. Retrieved 14 January 2015.
  5. ↑ Scott, Kirsty (23 October 2001). "Battle lines drawn at British submarine base:Local workers defy protesters over Trident 's role in theatre of war". Guardian. Retrieved 3 August 2008.
  6. ↑ (10 April 2009) Dunbartonshire Council rebel Jim Bollan vows to keep on fighting Lennox Herald
  7. ↑ "Protest against the suspension of SSP councillor Jim Bollan". 2 May 2009. Retrieved 14 January 2015.
  8. ↑ "Referendum decision angers Scots GMB members". 4 November 2013. Retrieved 4 November 2013.
  9. ↑ "Jim Bollan won't stand in 2017 election". Dumbarton and Vale of Leven Reporter. 25 February 2015. Retrieved 26 February 2015.
  10. ↑ "Bollan 'humbled' by public support". Dumbarton and Vale of Leven Reporter. 3 March 2015. Retrieved 5 March 2015.
  11. ↑ (23 August 2016) Black and Bollan to form new West Dunbartonshire Community Party Dumbarton and Vale of Leven Reporter
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