THERE is no greater privilege than leading our great city, my hometown, and the place that has given me every opportunity in life.

It is both an honour and a responsibility but my promise to every Glaswegian is that I will work tirelessly for the benefit of all who call our city home.

My priorities will be the priorities of our local communities. Using our shared values to create the opportunities for everyone to play their part in growing our economy, protecting the most vulnerable and ensuring that no child is left behind

As a former teacher, I know that education it the key route out of poverty and the best creator of opportunity for our young people.

It is the hallmark of what I believe the council should be striving for.

Education is the key to escaping poverty, the silver bullet in the fight to bring opportunity to all.

Giving the young people of our city the tools and the skills to make the most of their talents and abilities will be the driving force behind my administration.

No child should have their potential limited by either poverty or the poverty of ambition of others.

Too many for too long are forced to live with life chances that were determined before they were even born. This is a cycle that I am determined to break.

It was the former American President Benjamin Franklin who said that “an investment in knowledge pays the best interest” and this remains true today. I want to our classrooms to be a place where the only limit to a child’s potential is their imagination.

But one of the most crucial factors in delivering this ambition will be ensuring our city receives a just and fair settlement from the Scottish Government in Edinburgh.

Compared with our percentage share of the available local government budget when the SNP came to power Glasgow has lost £109 million in this financial year alone.

These are not cuts from Westminister.

This is money that is available to the Edinburgh Government but since 2007 has been that has been taken from Glasgow and given to other parts of the country.

Quite simply, Glasgow is losing out.

This is not a debate about figures – it is a debate about fairness.

It is financial limit that prevents Glasgow from going further, achieving more and protecting communities from the decisions of others.

Where we have the power, we will act and the record of Glasgow Labour is evidence of this. We led the way on the Living Wage, on introducing a fairer and more ethical procurement policy and a housebuilding programme whose ambition dwarfs any other local authority or government initiative. It was Labour that removed Glasgow’s unmanageable housing debt and triggered the biggest redistribution in wealth our city has ever seen.

When the Scottish Government and others are acting in the interests of Glasgow, they will find in me a willing partner but I will never shirk to challenge those who fail to stand up for our city and short change our citizens.

I came into politics to change things for the better and to build stronger communities and a fairer and more socially just Glasgow.

I was brought up in a tenement in Springburn and a achieved a lot because of the opportunities I had – my extended family of McAveetys and Gallaghers grew up to become headteachers, civil engineers, plumbers and nurses.

That is why I will fight to ensure that everyone in Glasgow has the right to a decent home, a good education, a secure job with at least a living wage and the comfort that comes with knowing that old age is not a byword for poverty.

Only by building a fairer Glasgow will Scotland become a place where every child can be assured the best start in life through a the best education, the opportunity for a well-paid job, and the chance to make a contribution to our city.

My late father always reminded me to ‘never forget where you came from’ and if you ever had the chance to put something back in life for others then you should try to do so.

He never lived long enough to ever see me elected to public office but I hope that whatever I can do in one of the great public offices in Scotland, he will know I was inspired because of his words.