New Council Leader is Liberal Democrat

11.37.05am BST (GMT +0100) Sun 17th Jun 2007

Cllr. Jenny Dawe, member for Drum Brae/Gyle Ward, is Edinburgh's new Leader. Jenny will lead the Liberal Democrat/SNP administration, with Cllr. Streve Cardownie of the SNP as Deputy Leader.

Speaking after the Council Meeting on 24 May 2007, at which her position was announced, Jenny said: "It is a great honour to be in this position of leading the administration of our capital city. There will be many challenges ahead - not least the fact that we have been left with difficult decisions to take because of Labour's omissions in the dying years of its 23 years of running the city. The Council's Reserves have been run down, there are departmental overspends to tackle, and a need to rationalise Coucnil property. However, I have a great team around me and I am confident that we will work well together for the good of the city."