A newly-elected councillor has hit out at the apathy, testosterone and mansplaining in town halls across Scotland.
Susan Rae, who was voted onto the City of Edinburgh Council in May said the "giddy joy" of being elected had been replaced by a "certain disappointment at the reality of council life".
There were 19 Green councillors elected across Scotland in the local elections, with the party picking up just over 4% of the vote.
Ms Rae, who represents the Leith Walk area in Edinburgh said: "After the exhilaration and the giddy excitement of the elections, Scottish Greens took their seats across the country with our vision for a greener, fresher and bold approach to local government."
While she said the party had made progress on issues such as the introduction of low emission zones and rent pressure zones, where rent increases are limited, she conceded there were challenges from local authority budget cuts and the "relentless frustration of dealing with what only can be described as systemic apathy".
Speaking at the Scottish Green conference in Edinburgh, she said: "The giddy joy of election for me and many of my colleagues was followed by a certain disappointment at the reality of council life.
"I have staggered from council meetings, dizzy and reeling from the scent of testosterone and seething ambition. And I have been frustrated by the pervasive excuses that are designed halt progress and rendered absolutely catatonic by relentless and really, really tedious mansplaining.
"I have walked in those beautifully carved doors in those city chambers and realised that they are actually a portal to 1977, and I now know in some council chambers we are dealing with egos so enormous that only a private office can contain them.
"When I have possibly naively expressed discontent I am invariably met with these responses - what did you expect, oh well that's politics, this is what you signed up for."
But she insisted Greens had not "signed up for accepted mediocrity instead of excellence", saying instead: "We signed up to drive the change that is so badly needed, to solve the problems created by a massive housing crisis, to improve education and social care and to preserve our green spaces and environment."
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