Councillor Euan Jardine, who became leader of SBC in 2022, has dropped his first release, ‘Little Man’, ahead of a full album, entitled ‘Shepherd’s Son’, to be released later this year.

The Conservative representative for Galashiels – who performs under the moniker Euan J – acknowledges that many will be caught off-guard by the release.

Euan said: “I’ve been rapping on and off since 2000. I stopped in 2011 and the only reason I stopped, believe it or not,  was because my microphone broke. I have always had a love of words and lyricism.

“The passion was still there but it gets put aside. Obviously I love public speaking and I really enjoy words and at the end of last year I decided to start writing rhymes more seriously and I caught myself writing on the train.

“I’d always wanted to make an album called ‘Shepherd’s Son’, basically because my dad, who passed away in 2017, was a shepherd and I’m a Christian and Jesus was a Good Shepherd, so it has a double meaning.

“I am the leader of the council but I’ve always done this. The lyrics have layers and double meanings, there are metaphors, similes and different rhyming schemes. It’s not basic.

“My part of rap is lyricism and hopefully what I have done will encourage other people to take on something maybe they have stopped doing when they were younger.

“I don’t believe in stereotypes and anybody can be what they want to be. I think this is a great way to express yourself. It’s an escapism and totally separate from work, from politics and local government. It’s a nice way to release stress.

“I have found that the rhymes are coming easier as I have a lot more life experience.”