A FORMER Labour councillor who campaigned for a no vote in the independence referendum is set to switch sides to the SNP.

Stephen Dornan quit Labour before a crucial council budget vote in 2012 after the party told him he would not be selected to stand again, after more than a decade as a councillor.

Councillor Dornan was later re-elected in Govan as an independent under the Glasgow First banner and has been in the political wilderness since he turned his back on Labour.

But the Evening Times can today reveal that Councillor Dornan has asked to join the SNP group and he's expected to be welcomed into the fold next month.

A senior SNP source said: "The group unanimously backed him at a meeting in the first week of November. Not one councillor spoke against him.

"He has what we're lacking in the group - councillors with a lot of experience. He also has a massive personal vote in Govan."

The politician campaigned for Better Together alongside senior Labour figures such as the shadow Scottish Secretary Margaret Curran until a few weeks before the referendum, when he unexpectedly announced he would vote yes.

He said he changed his mind because independence would save the NHS and the shipyards, adding: "I strongly believe in yes because I firmly believe it will allow us to build a fairer and more prosperous society which looks after its people. Put simply, Scotland's future looks much better with yes."

The move was welcomed at the time by Yes Scotland chief executive Blair Jenkins who described Dornan as a "hugely respected Glasgow councillor".

A senior SNP source said: "He made the journey from a no voter to a yes voter before the referendum and the natural next move is for him to become an SNP councillor.

"It will be announced officially as soon the application gets assessed, possibly in January."

Councillor Stephen Dornan said: "There will be no comment from me until I'm approached by the SNP. I'm quite happy to discuss it after that."

Glasgow City Council is currently controlled by Labour's 45 councillors.

The number of SNP councillors will increase from 27 to 28 when Dornan jumps ship.

The city also elected five Greens, one Conservative and one Lib Dem at the last election in 2012.

A spokesman for the council's Labour group said: "This has more to do with Councillor Dornan's electoral calculations than a Damascene conversion from socialist to nationalist.

"It is his third party in 3 years. Close observers of the Glasgow political scene would be more surprised if the weather forecast predicted rain."