VOTERS are set to take revenge tomorrow on politicians involved in the disastrous Edinburgh trams project, a poll reveals.
The £1bn project, which is massively delayed and has caused enormous disruption in the city, is the main factor behind 70% of voters calling the council’s performance “disappointing” or “poor”.
And it seems the Liberal Democrat/SNP coalition which has overseen the project for the past five years will pay the price in the local elections.
The survey of 700 voters, carried out by the local evening newspaper, showed the trams debacle was the most important issue for voters in the capital.
Fewer than 10% said the current Liberal Democrat-SNP administration had a “good” record in its last five years in power.
Voters across Scotland will go to the polls in 32 different local elections, with results expected to be in by Friday evening in the Lothians region.
Support for the Liberal Democrats in Edinburgh, currently the largest party in the council, is just 7%, according to the poll.
The poll showed 50.8% of voters thought the trams project was an important issue in deciding how they would vote.
Voters are so concerned about the trams that the issue easily beat the state of roads and council cuts into second and third place.
Although SNP and the Liberal Democrats were in power as the trams crisis deepened, the other main parties have suffered.
Just over 61% of voters said the Lib Dems were “poor” on the issue, and 50.7% said their coalition partners the SNP were “poor.”
But more than 46% said Labour were “poor” on trams. The figure for the Tories was 45.3%.
Edinburgh Labour leader Andrew Burns said: “Whilst the figures in this straw poll are encouraging for Edinburgh Labour, I’m absolutely clear that the only poll that counts is tomorrow.”
Steve Cardownie, leader of the city’s SNP group, said: “We’re standing 26 candidates and we’re fighting for every vote we can.”
Jason Rust, Conservative Economic Development spokesman, said: “On the doorstep there is a feeling of lack of confidence, of anti-administration.
“Even if you take the politics out of this, there is a move against the groups which are currently in charge.”
Steve Burgess, leader of Edinburgh’s Greens, said: “These are interesting figures but the real poll will be on the day.”
