STEWART PATERSON

Political Correspondent

GLASGOW will have a new Lord Provost elected to office today.

The SNP being the largest party will get its nomination for the prestigious post elected by councillors at a meeting of the council.

The new Lord Provost will be Eva Bolander, a councillor for Anderston/City ward.

Ms Bolander will become the first ever SNP Lord Provost of Glasgow and take over from Labour’s Sadie Docherty, who stood down as a councillor before the election.

Previously the ceremonial role has gone to a senior councillor who has served for many years and often, but not always, the provost job is among their their last as a councillor.

Ms Bolander is a relative newcomer to the council as she was first elected to the council in 2015 in a by election for the same ward, when Martin Doherty resigned to become an MP.

She then retained her seat at the elections earlier this month .

In her new role she will be the Lord Lieutenant of Glasgow which mean she is the Queen’s official representative in the city.

When the Queen or other Royals visit the city she will be accompanied by the Lord Provost who will also hand out awards and honours on the Queen’s behalf.

Ms Bolander will following the footsteps of many famous Lord Provosts and will be the fifth woman to hold the position following Jean Roberts in the 1960s, Susan Baird in the 1980s and most recently Liz Cameron and Sadie Docherty.

Other prominent Lord Provosts of Glasgow include Pat Lally, Michael Kelly and Peter McCann.

The tile of Provost dates back to the 1400s when the holder administered affairs on behalf of the Bishops who controlled the Burgh of Glasgow.

In the non-political civic role she will represent Glasgow at hundreds of events each year in the city and abroad, promoting Glasgow and its international links.

She will be assisted by a Deputy Lord Provost who will be revealed later today and a team of 18 Baillies from different political parties.

Her fist task will be to chair the meeting of the Council today

Ms Bolander has worked for Glasgow North West MP Carol Monaghan and owns a web design and consultancy business, Bestla Design.

She has also worked for further education colleges in the city and also as a museums education officer.

She attended university in Stockholm and speaks Swedish.