A PROMINENT Labour councillor has quit the party amid deepening disquiet about the political running of the country’s largest local authority.

Aileen Colleran, a former chair and chief whip of Glasgow’s ruling Labour administration, has cited disillusion with the party nationally and personal circumstances, including claims she has been treated with “suspicion and mistrust”.

Ms Colleran, who is married to SNP MP Chris Stephens, will continue as an independent until stepping down from politics.

Her resignation, combined with a number of suspensions and by-election defeats, has brought the Labour administration within a seat or so of losing its overall majority on the council.

Ms Colleran has represented Partick in the city for 16 years and has said her decision was timed until now so as not to distract from the Holyrood election.

The move will not come as a major surprise within Glasgow political circles, where Ms Colleran’s disconnect from Labour locally and nationally has been evident for some time.

She stood down from her role as chair of the city’s Labour group just days after the Referendum, where she voted Yes.

However, despite predictions she would join her husband, the MP for Glasgow South West and join the SNP, she will serve the next 12 months as an independent.

She said: “ The Labour party at all levels is in a state of confusion and whats needed are fresh faces, thinking and vision.

“The levels of mistrust and suspicion directed towards myself and widespread gossip about an imminent defection, to the point that community activists were asking me when I was planning on joining the SNP, have led me to take the step of clearing the matter up once and for all time. For the duration of my council term I will not be joining any other political party.”

The resignation comes just three months after another Labour city councillor, Russell Robertson, defected to the SNP and comes amid ongoing internal criticisms about the running of the city, which many predict will fall to the SNP next year.

In her resignation letter Ms Colleran states: “During the referendum campaign and in the immediate aftermath my views began to diverge from the party line about the tone of the campaign and the future direction and purpose of the Labour Party in Scotland.

“I voted yes, and my sense of disconnect has only increased since then but I decided to wait until after the May elections to resign.

“ I did consider resigning altogether from the council but the most likely outcome of a by-election in my ward would result in an SNP gain, and in my view it's for the voters next year to choose how many councillors and from which parties in a full four member election they wish to elect.

“Obviously there is another factor that has made it increasingly difficult for me to continue as a Labour member in the city , but I wish to stress that my decision is mainly political, although personal circumstances have played a part.”

By mid-morning Friday Ms Colleran had still not received a response from Labour.