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Inverclyde Council

Unitary authority council in Inverclyde, Scotland

Inverclyde Council
Summary

Unitary authority council in Inverclyde, Scotland

FieldValue
nameInverclyde Council
legislatureFull council election every 4 years.
coa_picCoat_of_Arms_Inverclyde.svg
coa_captionCoat of arms
logo_picInverclyde Council.svg
logo_captionCouncil logo
foundation
preceded_byInverclyde District Council
house_typeUnitary authority
leader1_typeProvost
leader1Drew McKenzie
party1
Independent
election15 May 2022
leader2_typeLeader
leader2Stephen McCabe
party2
Labour
election26 March 2025
leader3_typeChief Executive
leader3Stuart Jamieson
party3
election3May 2025
seats22 councillors
structure1Inverclyde_Council_2022.svg
structure1_res250px
:borderdarkgray}} Labour (9)
:borderdarkgray}} SNP (6)
:borderdarkgray}} Conservative (2)
:borderdarkgray}} Independent (5)
voting_system1Single transferable vote
last_election15 May 2022
next_election16 May 2027
meeting_placeMunicipal Buildings, Clyde Square, Greenock, PA151LX
session_roomTown Hall and Municipal Buildings - geograph.org.uk - 323687.jpg
session_altMunicipal Buildings
website

Independent Labour ;Administration (9) : Labour (9) ;Other parties (13) : SNP (6) : Conservative (2) : Independent (5) Inverclyde Council is one of the 32 local authorities of Scotland, covering the Inverclyde council area. In its current form the council was created in 1996, replacing the previous Inverclyde District Council which existed from 1975 to 1996.

The council has been under no overall control since 2007, being led by a Labour minority administration. The council is based at the Municipal Buildings in Greenock, the area's largest town.

History

Prior to 1975 the area was the western part of the historic county of Renfrewshire. The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 replaced Scotland's counties, burghs and districts with a two-tier system comprising upper-tier regions and lower-tier districts. Inverclyde was created as one of nineteen districts within the Strathclyde region. Further reforms in 1996 under the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 saw the Strathclyde Regional Council abolished and Inverclyde become a council area, taking over the former regional council's roles in the area.

In 2005, the council was criticised by the Accounts Commission for poor leadership and accountability. The chief executive resigned and various changes to the council's internal structures were made in response.

Until 2007, Inverclyde was the last authority in the United Kingdom not to have named its wards; whilst the local authority reserved its right to name wards, it did not to supply any names to the Local Government Boundary Commission. This was rectified in the 2006 review leading to the new wards used for the 2007 election, although the six multi-member wards created then used only vague geographical descriptions ('Inverclyde North', 'Inverclyde East', 'Inverclyde South West' etc.), in contrast to the majority of wards in Scotland.

Political control

The council has been under no overall control since 2007, since when it has been led by Labour-led minority administrations.

The first election to Inverclyde District Council was held in 1974, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until the new system came into force on 16 May 1975. A shadow authority was again elected in 1995 ahead of the reforms which came into force on 1 April 1996. Political control of the council since 1975 has been as follows:

Inverclyde District Council

Party in controlYears
1975–1977
1977–1980
1980–1996

Inverclyde Council

Party in controlYears
1996–2000
2000–2003
2003–2007
2007–

Leadership

The role of provost is largely ceremonial in Inverclyde. They chair full council meetings and act as the council's civic figurehead. Political leadership is provided by the leader of the council. The first leader of Inverclyde Council, Harry Mulholland, had been the last leader of the old Inverclyde District Council. The leaders since 1996 have been:

CouncillorPartyFromTo
title=Inverclyde Councilurl=https://www.findmypast.co.uk/image-viewer?issue=BL%2F0000540%2F19960327&page=5access-date=25 August 2025work=The Scotsmandate=27 March 1996location=Edinburghpage=5}}1 Apr 1996May 1999
Robert Jackson20 May 1999May 2003
Alan Blair15 May 2003May 2007
Stephen McCabe24 May 2007Feb 2011
Iain McKenzie24 Feb 2011Aug 2011
title=Council minutes, 18 August 2011url=https://www.inverclyde.gov.uk/meetings/documents/4672/IC-18-08-2011.pdfwebsite=Inverclyde Councilaccess-date=25 August 2025}}18 Aug 201115 Nov 2024
Robert Moran5 Dec 20246 Mar 2025
Stephen McCabe6 Mar 2025

Composition

Following the 2022 election and subsequent by-elections and changes of allegiance up to August 2025, the composition of the council was:

PartyCouncillorsTotal22
9
6
2
5

The next election is due in 2027.

Premises

The council is based at the Municipal Buildings on Clyde Square in Greenock. The main building was built in 1886 for the former Greenock Town Council, although the complex also incorporates the earlier Greenock Town Hall of 1765. The buildings passed to Inverclyde District Council at the local government reorganisation in 1975, and then to Inverclyde Council when local government was reorganised again in 1996.

Elections

Main article: Inverclyde Council elections

Since 2007 elections have been held every five years under the single transferable vote system, introduced by the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004. Election results since 1995 have been as follows:

YearSeatsLabourSNPConservativeLiberal DemocratsIndependent / OtherNotesScottish Labour}}; width: 3px;"Scottish National Party}}; width: 3px;"Scottish Conservatives}}; width: 3px;"Scottish Liberal Democrats}}; width: 3px;"Independent politician}}; width: 3px;"Scottish Labour}}; width: 3px;"Scottish National Party}}; width: 3px;"Scottish Conservatives}}; width: 3px;"Scottish Liberal Democrats}}; width: 3px;"Independent politician}}; width: 3px;"
199520140150Labour majority
199920110180New ward boundaries. Labour majority
200320600131Lib Dem majority
20072095141New ward boundaries.
201220106121
20172287214New ward boundaries.
20222298203

Wards

Map of the council's ward boundaries as of 2017

Six multi-member wards (20 seats) were created for the 2007 election, replacing 20 single-member wards which had been in place since the 1980s. The representation was increased to 22 councillors across 7 seats for the 2017 election:

Ward
numberWard nameLocationSeatsPopulation
(2019)Total2277,800
1Inverclyde East[[File:Inverclyde East.svg100px]]311,340
2Inverclyde East Central[[File:Inverclyde East Central.svg100px]]39,512
3Inverclyde Central[[File:Inverclyde Central.svg100px]]311,926
4Inverclyde North[[File:Inverclyde North.svg100px]]413,759
5Inverclyde West[[File:Inverclyde West.svg100px]]310,411
6Inverclyde South West[[File:Inverclyde South West.svg100px]]311,649
7Inverclyde South[[File:Inverclyde South.svg100px]]39,203

References

References

  1. "Provost appointed".
  2. (3 April 2025). "New chief executive appointed".
  3. {{cite legislation UK. (1994)
  4. (2 June 2005). "Council urged to tackle failings". BBC News.
  5. (30 November 2005). "Council given deadline to improve". BBC News.
  6. (23 June 2006). "Inverclyde starts big changes at the top". The Herald.
  7. "Compositions Calculator". University of Exeter.
  8. (27 March 1996). "Inverclyde Council". The Scotsman.
  9. (3 May 1999). "Brown hints at 800 new jobs for Scotland". The Scotsman.
  10. (24 June 2003). "Councillors mourn former provost". Greenock Telegraph.
  11. "Council minutes, 20 May 1999".
  12. (13 May 2003). "Jackson dies after heart attack". Greenock Telegraph.
  13. "Council minutes, 15 May 2003".
  14. (23 March 2012). "Ex council leader steps down". Greenock Telegraph.
  15. "Council minutes, 24 May 2007".
  16. (25 February 2011). "Inverclyde Council elects new leader". BBC News.
  17. "Council minutes, 24 February 2011".
  18. "Council minutes, 18 August 2011".
  19. (15 November 2024). "Inverclyde Council leader Stephen McCabe steps down". Greenock Telegraph.
  20. "Council minutes, 5 December 2024".
  21. (6 December 2024). "Former provost named new council leader".
  22. (6 March 2025). "Council boss re-elected after assault charge dropped". BBC News.
  23. "Council minutes, 6 March 2025".
  24. "Inverclyde". Thorncliffe.
  25. {{Historic Environment Scotland
  26. "Contact us".
  27. {{cite legislation UK. (1998)
  28. {{cite legislation Scotland. (2006)
  29. {{cite legislation Scotland. (2016)
  30. (30 June 2019). "United Kingdom: Scotland {{!}} Council Areas and Electoral Wards".
  31. [https://statistics.gov.scot/atlas/resource?uri=http%3A%2F%2Fstatistics.gov.scot%2Fid%2Fstatistical-geography%2FS13003011 Electoral Ward: Inverclyde East], [[Scottish Government]] Statistics
  32. [https://statistics.gov.scot/atlas/resource?uri=http%3A%2F%2Fstatistics.gov.scot%2Fid%2Fstatistical-geography%2FS13003012 Electoral Ward: Inverclyde East Central], [[Scottish Government]] Statistics
  33. [https://statistics.gov.scot/atlas/resource?uri=http%3A%2F%2Fstatistics.gov.scot%2Fid%2Fstatistical-geography%2FS13003013 Electoral Ward: Inverclyde Central], [[Scottish Government]] Statistics
  34. [https://statistics.gov.scot/atlas/resource?uri=http%3A%2F%2Fstatistics.gov.scot%2Fid%2Fstatistical-geography%2FS13003014 Electoral Ward: Inverclyde North], [[Scottish Government]] Statistics
  35. [https://statistics.gov.scot/atlas/resource?uri=http%3A%2F%2Fstatistics.gov.scot%2Fid%2Fstatistical-geography%2FS13003015 Electoral Ward: Inverclyde West], [[Scottish Government]] Statistics
  36. [https://statistics.gov.scot/atlas/resource?uri=http%3A%2F%2Fstatistics.gov.scot%2Fid%2Fstatistical-geography%2FS13003016 Electoral Ward: Inverclyde South West], [[Scottish Government]] Statistics
  37. [https://statistics.gov.scot/atlas/resource?uri=http%3A%2F%2Fstatistics.gov.scot%2Fid%2Fstatistical-geography%2FS13003017 Electoral Ward: Inverclyde South], [[Scottish Government]] Statistics
Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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