A FORMER leader of Glasgow City Council who quit his post after suffering from problems with alcohol is considering a political comeback.

Steven Purcell, 43, is mulling over a return to the city chambers next year, but senior party figures are understood to be nervous about the prospect of him resuming his local government career.

As city council leader between 2005 and 2010, Purcell was a rising star and seen as a potential Labour First Minister.

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However, his political career imploded after he checked into a rehab clinic in Peeblesshire that specialises in treating alcoholism and drug addiction.

He resigned the leadership within days and also quit as a councillor.

It later emerged that officers from the now-defunct Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency (SCDEA) had warned him he could be vulnerable to a blackmail threat.

He has since moved on by starting a consultancy business and making occasional political interventions.

However, despite his past troubles, Purcell could be in line for a return at next year’s local government elections.

Potential candidates have to submit a nomination form to one of the party’s Local Campaign Forums (LCF), which consider eligibility and arrange for an interview to be carried out.

An assessment panel drawn up by an LCF then makes recommendations on whether a nominee should be included on a panel of candidates.

It is understood Purcell is considering submitting a nomination from to the Glasgow LCF, the deadline for which is later this month.

Although Labour is expected to lose control of Glasgow council next year, there could be openings for Purcell if he made it on to the candidate panel.

In the city’s Drumchapel/Anniesland ward, which he used to represent, councillor Judith Fisher is reportedly quitting next year, creating a potential vacancy.

Paul Rooney is also standing down from the Garscadden/Scotstounhill ward in the north-west of Glasgow, which could be attractive to Purcell.

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However, the prospect of such a controversial figure returning to the political fold will divide Labour figures in the city.

In 2014, Purcell said : “I resigned because I had a drink problem. I recognised it was getting so severe that I was not functioning at the level the leader of a city should.

He added: “When I left public office, I simply was a very unwell man. I’ve heard depression being described as being too strong for too long.”

He also said of his cocaine use: “Of the small number of times I had foolishly partaken in the use of cocaine I knew it hadn’t been filmed because I knew who was in the room and I was lucid enough to recall who was there.”

In an earlier interview, he described a possible comeback as “highly unlikely”.

Purcell was on the New Labour wing of the party as council leader, but he is believed to have moved to the Left in recent years and backed Jeremy Corbyn.

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A senior party source in Glasgow: “I think this is bad news. The party has moved on from the Steven Purcell era.”

Purcell did not respond to this newspaper’s messages.