Councillor Jim Bollan |
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Councillor, West Dunbartonshire Council | |
Assumed office 3 May 2007 Serving with Cllrs Ian Dickson, Caroline McAllister, John Millar |
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Constituency | Leven |
In office 6 May 1999 – 2 May 2007 |
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Constituency | Renton and Alexandria South |
Personal details | |
Political party | West Dunbartonshire Community Party |
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 Scottish Socialist Party councillor in West Dunbartonshire. He was until recently the only elected SSP representative in Scotland, although now sits as a member of the West Dunbartonshire Community Party.
Bollan, at one time a member of the Communist Party of Great Britain and later the Labour group leader on Dumbarton District Council, was elected as an Independent for Renton and Alexandria South in the 1999 elections, defeating a Labour opponent. He went on to join the Scottish Socialist Party and was re-elected in 2003, defeating an SNP opponent.
He 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. 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.
In May 2009, he was suspended from the council for 9 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". His suspension was protested by Socialist Resistance and the Secretary of Clydebank Trades Council, Tom Morrison.
Bollan was selected as the no. 1 candidate for the SSP in the West Scotland region for the Scottish Parliament election, 2011, but failed to win the seat. In the Scottish local elections, 2012, he was re-elected fairly comfortably as a councillor, coming second and winning on the first count.