Councillor Tony Buchanan is the COSLA Spokesperson for Children and Young People.

Tony was first elected to East Renfrewshire council in 2007 and represents Neilston and Newton Mearns North.

He has been part of the administration of ERC since election in 2007 and was Leader of East Renfrewshire Council for the term 2017 – 2022. ERC has an exemplary record for several services and had led the way in progressive / coalition politics following the introduction of STV.

He has been a member of the Education committee and IJB, both areas in which the Council is sector leading.

He has served as Deputy Leader and Convener for infrastructure and sustainable growth in the council, overseeing the significant improvement in infrastructure, housing, and employability across the area, he has also led on ERC’S city deal projects, as well as the infrastructure portfolio for the wider Glasgow and Clyde valley city deal.

He was, from 2013 until January 2020 (Brexit), one of the four Scottish local government members of the Committee of the Regions, he served as Vice President of the EA (European Alliance Group) and as 1st Vice President of the CoR (Committee of the Regions) Natural Resources (NAT) Commission.

Outside his role as a Councillor, he is a Civil Servant and has worked in DWP and its predecessors for 38 years dealing with the benefits system in all its guises from supplementary benefit to universal credit as well as in recent years dealing with National Insurance number allocation.

He has been a member of COSLA Convention since 2007 and COSLA Leaders Group since 2017, and was appointed as COSLA's Spokesperson for Children and Young People in June 2022.