A SERVING member of the ruling Labour administration on Glasgow City Council has died.
John Kelly, a councillor in the west of the city, passed away on Monday following a period of ill health.
Mr Kelly, who represented the Garscadden and Scotstounhill ward, is believed to have died from the advanced stages of Motor Neuron Disease.
A by-election is expected to be held in the ward in the early autumn.
Mr Kelly, who was also a prominent figure in the Communication Workers' Union, is the second member of the Labour administration to pass away during the current council term.
In 2013, leading councillor George Ryan died aged just 50. Mr Kelly is also understood to have been in his 50s.
Frank McAveety, the leader of the council, paid tribute to Mr Kelly, who he described as a man "steadfast in his conviction" and someone "of quiet diligence".
Mr McAveety said: "There will be a deep sadness in the Labour movement in Scotland today, and for some long time to come, about the passing of Cllr John Kelly.
"John was only elected to Glasgow City Council in 2012 yet with his quiet diligence he made his mark, particularly in his contribution to the council’s adoption of its living wage policy. All John’s life as a trade union official was spent trying to improve the lot of his fellow workers and that of the less fortunate in general.
"John bore the standing and dignity of a man steadfast in his conviction that the world should be a better place. He will be missed. Sorely missed."
Fellow Labour councillor Paul Rooney, who shared the ward with Mr Kelly, said on Twitter: "Really sad at the passing of my ward colleague, Cllr John Kelly. A true campaigner & trade unionist - always focused on making a difference."
SNP ward colleague Graeme Hendry added: "He was always someone I found polite and easy to work with in the ward. A sad loss."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article