| Councillor Ken Guild was responding to the news the three-man Conservative group will vote with Labour and the Liberal Democrats at Thursday’s statutory meeting of the council to put the coalition into power.
That means the SNP, despite being the largest single council group for a second successive time, will again be frozen out of power.
The Nationalists have 13 seats on the 29-member council, Labour have 10, the Tories three, the Liberal Democrats two and there is one Independent.
With the support of the Conservatives, Labour and the Liberal Democrats can muster 15 votes — exactly the number needed for a majority.
After more than two weeks of behind-the-scenes discussions, Tory group leader Rod Wallace said his group would vote for the coalition nominations on Thursday, though they would not enter into any formal signed agreement.
Mr Guild said today, “My reaction is the same as thousands of electors in Dundee — disgusted, but hardly surprised. Once again the Tories have been hooked, gaffed and landed by the Labour party.”
Mr Guild said the SNP had very strong suspicions the deal had actually been done some time ago, even though it has only just been publicly confirmed.
When the Nationalists had been in discussions with the Tories and the Liberal Democrats soon after the election, Mr Guild said, it appeared they were “just going through the motions” rather than taking part in serious negotiations.
It is still the SNP’s intention to put forward their own nominations at Thursday’s meeting and seek to form a minority administration.
Although Mr Guild acknowledged the numbers were against them, he felt it was important it should be a matter of record the coalition was opposed by the largest party.
Announcing the Conservatives’ support for the coalition, Mr Wallace said they had looked very seriously at the options open to them and had dismissed the possibility of supporting the SNP.
“The proposals laid out in the SNP manifesto would lead to cuts in services or increases to the council tax, neither of which were acceptable,” he said.
“A minority administration in local government has the potential for serious problems. It could be completely unworkable and there could be endless debates with little achieved.
“The Conservative group do not wish to see the city dragged down in such a way.
“In coming to this decision we have put the needs of our constituents and the city before party politics.
“Having a voice in the affairs of the city can only be of benefit to those we represent and will bring a common sense approach to local government in Dundee.”
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