Typically, less than half the population votes in council elections, but in less affluent areas it’s common for only a third of people to cast their votes. But popular support, or rather the lack of it, rarely inhibits councillors on a moral mission.

It’s one of those contradictions that districts with low turnouts tend to return more left wing representatives whose social attitudes are likely to be at odds with a significant number of residents, particularly older ones. One of the reasons Reform UK has found some success in Scotland is because it has given voice to thousands of people whose views were not echoed by the other parties, including the Conservatives.

In my time on Edinburgh Council, the Black Lives Matter movement exploded after the death of George Floyd, and while no-one could argue other than every life is equal no matter the colour of anyone’s skin, the issue quickly expanded into historical retrospection, with the Edward Colston statue ending up in Bristol Harbour and the defacing of statues across Britain.

It took time but eventually some protesters here swotted up on history and found that the chap commemorated on Coates Crescent was worthy of a midnight paint job because the Victorian Prime Minster’s dad, John Gladstone, had been one of the biggest slave owners in the West Indies.

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I never thought I'd say this but my hanging basket is my pride and joy

At Edinburgh Council, the hot topic was whether Henry Dundas, the man on the Melville Column, was a slavery apologist who delayed abolition, or a pragmatist who found a political........

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