Glasgow City Council is the

local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-l ...

authority for the

City of Glasgow Glasgow City Council is the local government authority for the City of Glasgow, Scotland. It was created in 1996 under the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994, largely with the boundaries of the post-1975 City of Glasgow district of th ...

, Scotland. It was created in 1996 under the

Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 The Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 (c. 39) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which created the current local government structure of 32 unitary authorities covering the whole of Scotland. It abolished the two-tie ...

, largely with the boundaries of the post-1975

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municipa ...

of the

Strathclyde Strathclyde ( in Gaelic, meaning "strath (valley) of the River Clyde") was one of nine former local government regions of Scotland created in 1975 by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 and abolished in 1996 by the Local Government et ...

region.

History

The early city, a sub-regional capital of the old

Lanarkshire Lanarkshire, also called the County of Lanark ( gd, Siorrachd Lannraig; sco, Lanrikshire), is a historic county, lieutenancy area and registration county in the central Lowlands of Scotland. Lanarkshire is the most populous county in Scotl ...

county, was run by the old "Glasgow Town Council" based at the Tollbooth,

Glasgow Cross Glasgow Cross is at the hub of the ancient royal burgh and now city of Glasgow, Scotland, close to its first crossing over the River Clyde. As a major junction in the city centre, its five streets run: north up the High Street to Glasgow Cathed ...

. In 1895, the Town Council became "The Corporation of the City of Glasgow" ("Glasgow Corporation" or "City Corporation"), around the same time as its headquarters moved to the newly built

Glasgow City Chambers The City Chambers or Municipal Buildings in Glasgow, Scotland, has functioned as the headquarters of Glasgow City Council since 1996, and of preceding forms of municipal government in the city since 1889. It is located on the eastern side of the ...

George Square George Square ( gd, Ceàrnag Sheòrais) is the principal civic square in the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It is one of six squares in the city centre, the others being Cathedral Square, St Andrew's Square, St Enoch Square, Royal Exchange S ...

. It retained this title until local government re-organisation in 1975, when it became the " City of Glasgow District Council", a second-tier body under

Strathclyde Regional Council Strathclyde ( in Gaelic, meaning "strath (valley) of the River Clyde") was one of nine former local government regions of Scotland created in 1975 by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 and abolished in 1996 by the Local Government ...

which was also headquartered in Glasgow. Created under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, it included ''the former

county of the city A county corporate or corporate county was a type of subnational division used for local government in England, Wales, and Ireland. Counties corporate were created during the Middle Ages, and were effectively small self-governing county-empowere ...

of Glasgow and a number of areas previously within the

county of Lanark Lanarkshire, also called the County of Lanark ( gd, Siorrachd Lannraig; sco, Lanrikshire), is a historic county, lieutenancy area and registration county in the central Lowlands of Scotland. Lanarkshire is the most populous county in Scotlan ...

: Cambuslang (Central and North, and South lying outwith

East Kilbride East Kilbride (; gd, Cille Bhrìghde an Ear ) is the largest town in South Lanarkshire in Scotland and the country's sixth-largest locality by population. It was also designated Scotland's first new town on 6 May 1947. The area lies on a rais ...

), Rutherglen (including the burgh of Rutherglen), part of a Carmunnock area (that lying outwith East Kilbride) and

Baillieston Baillieston ( sco, Bailiestoun) is a suburb of Glasgow, Scotland. It is about east of the city centre. It also gives its name to Ward 20 of Glasgow City Council and forms part of the Glasgow East constituency of the UK Parliament. Geograph ...

Carmyle Carmyle ( gd, An Càrn Maol) is a suburb in the east end of Glasgow, Scotland, directly north of the River Clyde. It is in an isolated location separated from the main urban area of the city and has the characteristics of a semi-rural village. ...

Garrowhill Garrowhill ( sco, Garraehill or , gd, An Cnoc Garbh)
i ...

Mount Vernon Mount Vernon is an American landmark and former plantation of Founding Father, commander of the Continental Army in the Revolutionary War, and the first president of the United States George Washington and his wife, Martha. The estate is on ...

and Springboig''. The city council established in 1996 (

) was one of the newly created single-tier local authorities, taking on the powers and responsibilities previously divided between the City of Glasgow District and Strathclyde Region bodies, which were abolished, and with boundaries somewhat different from those of the former: the Cambuslang, Halfway, Rutherglen and Fernhill areas (four wards) were transferred from the city area to the new South Lanarkshire council area.

Council structure

The council is ceremonially headed by the

Lord Provost of Glasgow The Right Honourable Lord Provost of Glasgow is the convener of the Glasgow City Council. Elected by the city councillors, the Lord Provost serves not only as the chair of that body, but as a figurehead for the entire city. The office is equiv ...

, who is elected to convene the council and perform associated tasks as a general civic leader and Lord Lieutenant; the role has history dating from the 15th century. The current Lord Provost, elected in May 2022 after that month's

election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...

, is Jacqueline McLaren.

Composition

Administration parties denoted with bullets (•)

City Administration Committee

The council's City Administration Committee is headed by a Leader of the Council, who is the leader of the largest political grouping, currently the Scottish National Party. The City Administration Committee is usually formed of 19 members across all the elected parties proportionally, however this would have given the SNP a majority of 10 seats despite not gaining one through the election. The Greens proposed an amendment to add an additional seat for each party, making the SNP the biggest minority party. It was passed and so its composition of 23 seats is currently: The council changed from an executive-led governance system to a committee-led system in September 2017.

History of leaders and administrations

*''For previous leaders, see Politics of Glasgow''

Elections

The council consists of 85

councillor A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries. Canada Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...

s elected for a five-year term from 23 wards. These wards were introduced for the 2017 election, replacing those introduced in 2007, and each returns three or four members by the

single transferable vote Single transferable vote (STV) is a multi-winner electoral system in which voters cast a single vote in the form of a ranked-choice ballot. Voters have the option to rank candidates, and their vote may be transferred according to alternate ...

system of election. This system was introduced by the

Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004 The Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004 (asp 9) is an Act of the Scottish Parliament which provided, amongst other things, for the election of councillors to the local authorities in Scotland by the single transferable vote system. The Commissi ...

, as a means of ensuring a reasonably proportionately representative outcome. The most recent full council election took place on 5 May 2022. The Scottish National Party became the largest party (37) but did not gain an overall majority;

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

returned more councillors (36) and was one seat short from the SNP. The Scottish Greens also returned more councillors (10) whilst the

Conservatives Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

lost all but two councillors (2). The next election is due to take place on 6 May 2027.

Previous elections

''Since creation of Glasgow City Council'' * 1995 Glasgow City Council election: **83 members elected (FTTP): 77 Labour; 3 Conservative; 1 SNP; 1

Liberal Democrat Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties usually follow a liberal democratic ideology. Active parties Former parties See also *Liberal democracy *Lib ...

; 1

Scottish Militant Labour Scottish Militant Labour (SML) was a TrotskyistDave avidOsle"The Tribune interview: Tommy Sheridan – Tartan Trot"''Tribune'', 30 July 1993 political party operating in Scotland for most of the 1990s and was part of the Committee for a Workers' ...

* 1999 Glasgow City Council election: **79 members elected (FTTP): 74 Labour; 2 SNP; 1 Conservative; 1 Liberal Democrat; 1 Scottish Socialist *

2003 Glasgow City Council election Elections to Glasgow, Glasgow City Council were held on 1 May 2003, the same day as the other Local government in Scotland, Scottish local government elections and the Scottish Parliament 2003 Scottish Parliament election, general election. El ...

: **79 members elected (FTTP): 71 Labour; 3 SNP; 3 Liberal Democrat; 1 Conservative; 1 Scottish Socialist *

2007 Glasgow City Council election Elections to Glasgow City Council were held on 3 May 2007, the same day as the other Scottish local government elections and the Scottish Parliament general election. The election was the first one using 21 new wards created as a result of t ...

: **79 members elected (STV): 45 Labour; 22 SNP; 5 Liberal Democrat; 5 Scottish Green; 1 Conservative; 1 Solidarity *

2012 Glasgow City Council election Elections to Glasgow City Council were held on 3 May 2012, the same day as the other Scottish local government elections. The election was the second using 21 new wards created as a result of the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004, each wa ...

: **79 members elected (STV): 44 Labour; 27 SNP; 5 Scottish Green; 1 Conservative; 1 Liberal Democrat; 1 Glasgow First *

2017 Glasgow City Council election The Glasgow City Council election of 2017 was held on 4 May 2017, the same day as the 31 other Scottish local government elections. The election was the first to use 23 new wards, created as a result of the Local Government Boundary Commissio ...

Local Election Results 2017
Glasgow City Council **85 members elected (STV): 39 SNP; 31 Labour; 8 Conservative; 7 Scottish Green *

2022 Glasgow City Council election The 2022 election to the Glasgow City Council took place on 5 May 2022 on the same day as the 31 other Scottish local government elections. The election used the 23 wards created following the Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland ...

**85 members elected (STV): 37 SNP; 36 Labour; 10 Scottish Green; 2 Conservative

Current multi-member ward system

The current multi-member ward system (23 wards, 85 seats) was introduced for the 2017 council election, replacing a similar model (21 wards, 79 seats) in place between 2007 and 2017: Ward notes

Footnotes

{{Authority control Organisations based in Glasgow Local authorities of Scotland de:City of Glasgow