Glasgow has been "shafted" by gerrymandering, the city's council leader has said.

Writing exclusively for The Herald, Susan Aitken said council boundary reorganisation has seen the city denied of taxes from affluent suburbs, which use services paid for by Glaswegians. 

She said: "Few would deny the gerrymandered local government reorganisation of the mid-1990s was intended to do down authorities like Glasgow, denying us the residential tax base of affluent suburbs even while those suburbs continued to make use of services paid for by Glaswegians."

Read more: Susan Aitken: Glasgow can lead transformation of Scotland's economy

But the SNP politician said redrawing those boundaries now would be "costly, time-consuming and distracting" and "wouldn't rebalance power, particularly economic power". 

The council leader said that is more relevant to the city's future success than where households pay their local taxes.

She said Glasgow has "more social challenges of a greater scale" than any other local authority, something she said "requires funding to be weighted accordingly". 

Read more: Third of Holyrood seats face shake-up in boundary review

Ms Aitken described the city as the "engine room of Scotland's economy", saying it is the only "true metropolis" north of Manchester. 

And she argued the solutions to problems like the cost of living crisis, "rampant" inflation, and climate change are local and require councils like Glasgow to receive adequate funding.

"None of that requires lines on local maps to be drawn," the council leader said.