Jumping from one sinking ship to another?

Via Tartan Hero, we learn that Solidarity's one Councillor in the whole of Scotland - Ruth Black, a Glasgow Councillor - has surprised people not by standing down from the Council as some had predicted, but by defecting to Labour. This now increases Labour's majority on the Council - and is a small publicity bonus for Stephen Purcell at a time when Labour as a whole are not coping well either in Scotland or the UK.

However, it does spell the end for Solidarity. Their leader will soon be in the dock (and will be defended by Donald Findlay, whose other clients include Luke Mitchell - found guilty of murdering his girlfriend - and Peter Tobin - found guilty of murdering Angelika Kluk then discovered to be a serial killer - so Tommy Sheridan's omens are not favourable), and they now have no elected representatives. The SSP, who looked dead and buried in May, now outstrip Solidarity by having a Councillor and a Convener who has not been charged with perjury.

Perhaps my title was a tad melodramatic: at Westminster, Labour have had several crises to go through but have until 2009-10 to patch things up, Wendy Alexander has bought time with the Electoral Commission inquiry which won't report back until the new year (and Tory attacks on her are blunted by the news that David Cameron took £7,000 from other donors who are not on the UK electoral roll), and obviously, Labour are a Councillor up. Labour certainly have a future and in Scotland that depends largely on what the Electoral Commission says about Wendy Alexander. But the worst case scenario is that they lose their leader. At the moment, Solidarity may be teetering on the brink of oblivion, losing their Councillor to Labour and their Leader to a perjury trial.