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As Glasgow City Council’s youngest ever Leader, Steven Purcell has brought renewed energy and fresh ideas to the city.
He has earned a reputation as a trailblazer on issues ranging from education, regeneration, community safety, business to worklessness.
Born in 1972, he has lived all his life in Yoker, in the west of the city.
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He began his political life when he joined the Labour Party in 1986. He was soon campaigning for Donald Dewar, the future first First Minister of Scotland, helping him to secure the Garscadden seat in the 1987 election.
Councillor Purcell officially entered the public arena when he was elected to Glasgow City Council in May 1995 for the ward of Blairdardie.
Between 1999 and 2003, he was the Council's Convener of Development & Regeneration Services, during which time he oversaw the creation of the Glasgow City Plan. It replaced dozens of outdated local area-based plans and was heralded by the Scottish Executive and the Royal Town Planning Institute as a striking example of clear thinking.
From 2003, until his election as Leader at 32 in May 2005, Councillor Purcell was Convener of Education, and helped deliver a £220 million Public Private Partnership(PPP) to refurbish or rebuild the city's 29 secondary schools.
He pushed forward an ambitious new education strategy to replace half-empty and run-down primary schools with community-based pre-12 campuses which merged primary, nursery and special needs facilities. The programme remains on-track to be extended across the city and is designed to include communities in the decision-making process. The Council has already committed almost £261 million in capital investment which will lead to 37 new-build school campuses across the city.
He used his first weeks in office to re-dedicate the city’s focus towards social renewal married to economic growth as Glasgow's physical regeneration provides the building blocks not offered in a generation. Getting people off benefits and back to work remains his number one priority.
In his first years as Leader, Councillor Purcell has relieved the burden on low income families and pensioners by producing a balanced budget and an unprecedented three-year freeze on Council Tax. This has been achieved through efficiencies and cuts in bureaucracy, allowing money saved to be diverted to the key priorities of education, social care and tackling the causes of poverty.
He has also overseeen the winning bid to bring the Commonwealth Games to Glasgow in 2014. He believes this accolade "has shown us what Glasgow can achieve when we put our minds to something and work together".
Councillor Purcell is a keen football fan and enjoys reading, music, history and debates among many interests.
He still lives in his native Yoker.
Glasgow City Council has an annual budget of £2.5 billion and employs some 36,000 staff. To Top