Gordon Matheson

Councillor Gordon Matheson CBE
Leader of Glasgow City Council
In office May 2010 – 10 September 2015
Preceded by	Jim Coleman (interim)
Succeeded by	Frank McAveety
Personal details
Political party	Scottish Labour Party
Domestic partner	Stephen Wallace
Residence	Glasgow

Gordon Matheson CBE is a Scottish Labour Party politician and a former leader of Glasgow City Council.

Educated at Glasgow and Strathclyde universities, he was first elected to the city council in 1999. Re-elected in 2003, 2007 and 2012, he represents the Anderston/City ward. He served as Bailie, Justice of the Peace, Executive Member for Education and City Treasurer, before being elected leader in May 2010.

In the May 2012 local government elections, he led the Scottish Labour Party to victory, increasing the share of the vote by 3.4% and securing an overall majority in Glasgow. This was despite predictions that Labour would lose control of Glasgow to the SNP.

As leader, he has established the Commonwealth Jobs and Graduate Funds; committed Glasgow to bid for the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics; launched a major revamp of George Square; approved a scheme to reduce Glasgow's landfill by 90%; introduced winter fuel payments to pensioners; and embarked on the refurbishment or rebuild of every school in the city. In November 2012, Matheson was named Local Politician of the Year at The Herald's Scottish Politician of the Year Awards.

Matheson was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2015 New Year Honours for services to local government and the community.

In June 2015, Matheson announced he would stand in the 2015 Scottish Labour Party deputy leadership election, following a rule change allowing councillors to stand for the position, although he was unsuccessful. After losing the deputy leadership election in August 2015, he announced that he would stand down as leader of Glasgow City Council from 10 September in order to focus on winning a seat in the Scottish Parliament in 2016.

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