Bollan, at one time a member of the Communist Party of Great Britain and later the Labour group leader on DumbartonDistrict Council, was elected as an Independent for Renton and Alexandria South in the 1999 elections, defeating a Labour opponent. He went on to join the Scottish Socialist Party and was re-elected in 2003, defeating an SNP opponent. He has not been a prominent figure in the SSP at a national level, but he has been involved in the campaign against conditions in Cornton Valewomen's prison, as his daughter was one of a number of women prisoners who have committed suicide there. He has been an opponent of the Trident programme for many years and has taken part in many protests against their presence at the Faslane base, including those organised by Faslane Peace Camp. In May 2009, he was suspended from the council for 9 months for alleged misconduct after he was refused permission to address the council on changes to workers terms and conditions imposed by the new single status arrangement; describing the manner in which the council drove through changes as "shite" and "a stitch up". His suspension was protested by Socialist Resistance and the Secretary of Clydebank Trades Council, Tom Morrison. Bollan was selected as the no. 1 candidate for the SSP in the West Scotland region for the 2011 Scottish Parliament election, but failed to win the seat. In the 2012 Scottish local elections, he was re-elected fairly comfortably as a councillor, coming second and winning on the first count. In November 2013, Bollan resigned from the GMB in protest of its "dictatorial and undemocratic" decision to campaign against Scottish independence. In February 2015, Bollan announced that he intends to stand down at the next council election in 2017. He told the Dumbarton and Vale of Leven Reporter: "I don't believe you should go on and on in these elected positions forever. Come the elections in 2017 I will have been a councillor for 28 years and I believe this is a sufficient amount of time to have been in that role." After his announcement, messages of support flooded in on social media. However in August 2016 he decided to stand again for the 2017 election, for the West Dunbartonshire Community Party, formed by himself and fellow councillor George Black.
