Renfrewshire () ( sco, Renfrewshire; gd, Siorrachd Rinn Friù) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. Located in the west central Lowlands, it is one of three council areas contained within the boundaries of the historic county of Renfrewshire, the others being East Renfrewshire to the east and Inverclyde to the west. It also shares borders with Glasgow,

North Ayrshire North Ayrshire ( gd, Siorrachd Àir a Tuath, ) is one of 32 council areas in Scotland. The council area borders Inverclyde to the north, Renfrewshire and East Renfrewshire to the northeast, and East Ayrshire and South Ayrshire to the east and so ...

and West Dunbartonshire, and lies on the southern bank of the

River Clyde The River Clyde ( gd, Abhainn Chluaidh, , sco, Clyde Watter, or ) is a river that flows into the Firth of Clyde in Scotland. It is the ninth-longest river in the United Kingdom, and the third-longest in Scotland. It runs through the major cit ...

. The term Renfrewshire may also be used to refer to the historic county, also known as the County of Renfrew or Greater Renfrewshire, with origins in the 16th century. The larger Renfrewshire, containing Renfrewshire, Inverclyde and East Renfrewshire, remains in use as a registration county and lieutenancy area as well as a joint valuation board area for electoral registration and local tax valuation purposes. The town of Paisley is the area's main settlement and centre of local government and contains the historic

county town In the United Kingdom and Ireland, a county town is the most important town or city in a county. It is usually the location of administrative or judicial functions within a county and the place where the county's members of Parliament are elect ...

, the royal burgh of

Renfrew Renfrew (; sco, Renfrew; gd, Rinn Friù) is a town west of Glasgow in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. It is the historic county town of Renfrewshire. Called the "Cradle of the Royal Stewarts" for its early link with Scotland's former ...

History

Toponymy

The name of Renfrewshire derives from its county town,

, which has been attested since the Roman occupation of Britain. The name is believed to originate from

Common Brittonic Common Brittonic ( cy, Brythoneg; kw, Brythonek; br, Predeneg), also known as British, Common Brythonic, or Proto-Brittonic, was a Celtic language spoken in Britain and Brittany. It is a form of Insular Celtic, descended from Proto-Celtic, a ...

/ Cumbric, from ren, as in Scottish Gaelic: ''rinn'', or as in

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

: ''rhyn'' (a point or cape of land) and from frew, as in

: ''fraw'', or ''ffrau'' (flow of water). This suggests a point of land near the flow of water, such as at the confluence of the Cart and Clyde rivers.

Emergence as a county

The county of Renfrew was established by

King Robert III Robert III (c. 13374 April 1406), born John Stewart, was King of Scots from 1390 to his death in 1406. He was also High Steward of Scotland from 1371 to 1390 and held the titles of Earl of Atholl (1367–1390) and Earl of Carrick (1368– ...

from lands centring on the ancient lordship of

Strathgryfe Strathgryffe or Gryffe Valley ( gd, Srath Ghriobhaidh) is a strath centred on the River Gryffe in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. The River Gryffe passes through the council areas of Inverclyde and Renfrewshire, rising in Kilmacolm and joi ...

in 1402. Previously this had formed part of the county of Lanarkshire. Previously religious authority had extended over the area through the authority of

Paisley Abbey Paisley Abbey is a parish church of the Church of Scotland on the east bank of the White Cart Water in the centre of the town of Paisley, Renfrewshire, about west of Glasgow, in Scotland. Its origins date from the 12th century, based on a for ...

over local churches in towns and villages. Following the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889, Renfrewshire – as with the other

counties of Scotland The shires of Scotland ( gd, Siorrachdan na h-Alba), or counties of Scotland, are historic subdivisions of Scotland established in the Middle Ages and used as administrative divisions until 1975. Originally established for judicial purposes (bei ...

– gained greater powers and became governed by an elected county council which was based at the County Buildings, adjacent to Paisley Sheriff Court, in Paisley.

Local government reform

In 1973, the historic county of Renfrewshire was divided into three

districts 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 counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

–

Renfrew District Renfrew District ( gd, Sgìre Rinn Friù) was one of nineteen local government districts in the Strathclyde region of Scotland, which existed between 1975 and 1996.Inverclyde District and

Eastwood District Eastwood (Scottish Gaelic: ''A' Choille an Ear'', Scots: ''Eastwid'') was a local government district in the Strathclyde region of Scotland from 1975 to 1996, lying south-west of the City of Glasgow. It is now part of East Renfrewshire. Lo ...

within the wider Strathclyde region. The modern council area of Renfrewshire was subsequently created as one of the 32 local council areas following the 1996 reform of local government in Scotland, with altered boundaries.

Barrhead Barrhead ( sco, Baurheid, gd, Ceann a' Bharra) is a town in East Renfrewshire, Scotland, southwest of Glasgow city centre on the edge of the Gleniffer Braes. At the 2011 census its population was 17,268. History Barrhead was formed when ...

, Neilston and

Uplawmoor Uplawmoor is a village in East Renfrewshire, Scotland. Its population was 700 as of 2016. Historic Uplawmoor, associated for centuries with the Barony of Caldwell and the Mure family, is still a vibrant community today, although bereft of the sh ...

which were formerly in Renfrew District joined with Eastwood District to form East Renfrewshire.

Industry

During the 17th and 18th century, the Industrial Revolution caused a mass increase to the

textiles industry The textile industry is primarily concerned with the design, production and distribution of yarn, cloth and clothing. The raw material may be natural, or synthetic using products of the chemical industry. Industry process Cotton manufactur ...

in Paisley. Meanwhile, the shipbuilding industry was stimulated.

Boundary dispute with Glasgow

Following the creation of the Braehead shopping centre in 1999, the development formed part of a boundary dispute between Renfrewshire and the City of Glasgow, with the centre straddling the existing boundary line. In 2002, a Local Government Boundary Commission ruling eventually redrew the boundary to include all of the centre in Renfrewshire, as this was the original ancient boundary. The boundary runs along Kings Inch Drive and is marked by a chain linked fence at this point.

Culture and community

Renfrewshire contains several places of interest. In the west of Renfrewshire,

Castle Semple Loch Castle Semple Loch is a 1.5-mile-long (2.5 km) inland freshwater loch at Lochwinnoch in Renfrewshire, Scotland. Originally part of an estate of the same name, it is now administered by Clyde Muirshiel Regional Park as a watersports centre. ...

at Lochwinnoch and the wider Clyde Muirshiel Regional Park are natural areas of interest, as is the Gleniffer Braes country park in the south. Paisley contains several historic buildings and notable sites, including

, Paisley Museum and Coats Observatory, Paisley Town Hall, Coats Memorial Church, Sma' Shot Cottages and St Mirren Park (home of

St Mirren F.C. St Mirren Football Club is a Scotland, Scottish professional association football, football club based in Paisley, Renfrewshire, Paisley, Renfrewshire, that competes in the Scottish Premiership after winning the 2017–18 Scottish Championship. ...

). Outside of Paisley,

Elderslie Elderslie may refer to one of the following locations: * Elderslie, Scotland, a village in Renfrewshire, west central Scotland * Elderslie, New South Wales Elderslie is a suburb of the Macarthur Region of Sydney in the state of New South Wales, ...

, the claimed birthplace of Scottish knight William Wallace, contains a monument in his honour, while the

Weaver's Cottage Leoni's Own is a 19th century American card solitaire played with two decks of playing cards shuffled together. This game may have come from Austria, takes approximately 20 minutes and is described as medium regarding difficulty and also uses an i ...

at Kilbarchan is in the care of the National Trust for Scotland. The town of

Johnstone Johnstone ( sco, Johnstoun,
gd, Baile Iain) is a town ...

is notable for

Johnstone Castle Johnstone Castle ( sco, Johnstoun Castle) is a structure and former mansion in the town of Johnstone in Renfrewshire, Scotland. It belonged to the Houstons of Milliken, who acquired the estate of Easter Cochrane in 1773. The original structure w ...

, Johnstone High Parish Church and for containing a museum within a supermarket. The Braehead Arena in Renfrewshire close to the boundary with Glasgow is home to leading professional basketball team, the Scottish Rocks, who compete in the British Basketball League. The arena was also host to the

2000 Ford World Curling Championships The World Curling Championships are the annual world championships for curling, organized by the World Curling Federation and contested by national championship teams. There are men's, women's and mixed doubles championships, as well as men's an ...

Towns and villages

* Bishopton *

Bridge of Weir Bridge of Weir is a village within the Renfrewshire council area and wider historic county of Renfrewshire in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. Lying within the Gryffe Valley, Bridge of Weir owes its name to the historic crossing point tha ...

Brookfield Brookfield may refer to: Australia *Brookfield, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane *Brookfield, Victoria Canada * Brookfield, Manitoba, on Manitoba Highway 11 *Brookfield, Newfoundland and Labrador *Brookfield, Nova Scotia *Brookfield, Ontario ...

Crosslee Crosslee is a small village lying on the bank of the River Gryffe in the civil parish of Houston and Killellan, Renfrewshire, in Scotland. It lies around half a mile south of the old village centre of Houston and immediately west of Craigends, al ...

* Erskine * Houston *

Howwood Howwood ( sco, The Howewuid, gd, Coille an Dail)
is a ...

* Inchinnan *

Johnstone Johnstone ( sco, Johnstoun,
gd, Baile Iain) is a town ...

* Kilbarchan * Langbank * Linwood * Lochwinnoch * Paisley *

Ralston Ralston may refer to: Place names United States *Ralston, California *Ralston, Iowa *Ralston, Nebraska *Ralston, Oklahoma *Ralston, Wyoming *Mount Ralston in the Sierra Nevada of California *Ralston Creek (Colorado) *Ralston Hall, Belmont, Califor ...

* Ranfurly *

Politics

Renfrewshire Council

Renfrewshire Council is the elected local authority for Renfrewshire. Its consists of 43 directly elected councillors who elect from among their number a Provost to serve as the council's convener and ceremonial head and a leader of the council who is typically the head of the largest political group, often called the Administration. The council meets collectively as a full council and carries out a number of functions. Its Scheme of Delegated Functions sets out where the council has agreed to allow powers to be exercised by a committee (referred to as a "board" in Renfrewshire Council), a sub-committee, an officer of the council or a joint committee with one or more other councils. The council continues to reserve a number of functions that can only be carried out by the council acting as a whole. The council's paid service (known collectively as "officers") is headed by a chief executive, who is responsible to the elected council for the delivery of its policies. This executive wing is divided into seven departments: the Chief Executive's Department, Finance and Corporate Services, Education and Leisure Services, Environmental Services, Housing and Property Services, Planning and Transport, and Social Work. Each department is headed by a Director, who is also a non-political, paid member of staff. Renfrewshire Council acts as the lead authority for Scotland Excel, a collaborative procurement vehicle established in 2008 to support the

local authorities of Scotland Local government in Scotland comprises thirty-two local authorities, commonly referred to as councils. Each council provides public services, including education, social care, waste management, libraries and planning. Councils receive the majori ...

Council composition

The most recent election was held in May 2022, following which an SNP led council was formed with the support on confidence and supply from Johnstone North, Kilbarchan, Howwood and Lochwinnoch independent councillor Andy Doig. As of November 2022 the full composition of the council is as follows: *† In November 2022, Paisley Southeast Labour councillor and former Labour Group Leader, Eddie Devine, left the party and now sits as an independent.

Electoral wards

For the purposes of elections to Renfrewshire Council, the Renfrewshire area is divided geographically into a number of

wards Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a priso ...

which then elect either three or four councillors each by the single transferable vote system. The electoral system of local councils in Scotland is governed by the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004, which first introduced proportional representation to councils in Scotland. These electoral wards, following a 2017 review and first used in the

2017 Renfrewshire Council election The 2017 Renfrewshire Council election took place on 4 May 2017 to elect members of Renfrewshire Council. The election was first to use the twelve ward (politics), wards created as a result of the 2015-16 Boundary Commission review, with eac ...

are as follows:Council Area Renfrewshire
Scottish Government Statistics. Retrieved 22 April 2022

UK Parliament

The two parliamentary constituencies covering Renfrewshire are

Paisley and Renfrewshire North Paisley and Renfrewshire North is a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was created for the 2005 general election, replacing most of Paisley North and Renfrewshire West. Constituency Profile Th ...

and Paisley and Renfrewshire South, being represented by Gavin Newlands and Mhairi Black respectively. Created in 2005, both seats and their predecessor constituencies had traditionally been safe seats for the Labour Party, until the

Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party (SNP; sco, Scots National Pairty, gd, Pàrtaidh Nàiseanta na h-Alba ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic political party in Scotland. The SNP supports and campaigns for Scottish independence from ...

gained them with swings of over 26% in the SNP landslide at the 2015 general election. Although both constituencies were only marginally held by the party over Labour at the 2017 snap election, they returned to safe SNP majorities in the 2019 general election. , - ! rowspan="2" colspan="2" style="text-align:left;" , Party ! colspan="5", Votes cast ! colspan="5", % ! colspan="5", Seats , - !2005 !2010 !2015 !2017 !2019 !2005 !2010 !2015 !2017 !2019 !2005 !2010 !2015 !2017 !2019 , - , style="background:;", , style="text-align:left;" , Scottish National , 14,349 , 15,621 , 49,149 , 34,419 , 44,990 , 18.2 , 18.6 , 50.8 , 39.0 , 48.5 , 0 , 0 , 2 , 2 , 2 , - , style="background:#dc241f;", , style="text-align:left;" ,

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 ...

, 38,601 , 47,455 , 34,389 , 29,265 , 22,409 , 49.0 , 56.7 , 35.6 , 33.1 , 24.2 , 2 , 2 , 0 , 0 , 0 , - , style="background:#0087dc;", , style="text-align:left;" , Conservative , 8,754 , 10,360 , 9,709 , 20,964 , 18,788 , 11.1 , 12.4 , 10.0 , 23.7 , 20.3 , 0 , 0 , 0 , 0 , 0 , - , style="background:#fdbb30;", , style="text-align:left;" , Liberal Democrat , 14,136 , 8,409 , 2,065 , 2,803 , 6,579 , 18.0 , 10.0 , 2.1 , 3.2 , 7.1 , 0 , 0 , 0 , 0 , 0 , - , style="background:#e9e9e9;", , style="text-align:left;" , Others , 2,905 , 1,920 , 1,376 , 876 , N/A , 3.7 , 2.3 , 1.4 , 1.0 , N/A , 0 , 0 , 0 , 0 , N/A , - ! colspan="2" style="text-align:left;" , Margin !24,252 !31,834 !14,760 !5,154 !22,581 !30.8 !38.1 !15.2 !5.9 !24.3 ! 2 ! 2 ! 2 ! 2 ! 2 , - ! colspan="2" style="text-align:left;" , Total ! 78,745 ! 83,765 ! 96,688 ! 88,327 ! 92,766 ! 100% ! 100% ! 100% ! 100% ! 100% ! 2 ! 2 ! 2 ! 2 ! 2

Scottish Parliament

Following the establishment of the

Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament ( gd, Pàrlamaid na h-Alba ; sco, Scots Pairlament) is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. Located in the Holyrood area of the capital city, Edinburgh, it is frequently referred to by the metonym Holyro ...

in 1999, the Labour Party held the three seats covering Renfrewshire, although with lower majorities than their House of Commons equivalents. Constituency boundaries were redrawn for the

2011 Scottish Parliament election The 2011 Scottish Parliament election was held on Thursday, 5 May 2011 to Members of the 4th Scottish Parliament, elect 129 members to the Scottish Parliament. The election delivered the first majority government since the opening of Holyrood, ...

, with the new constituencies of

Renfrewshire North and West Renfrewshire North and West is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament ( Holyrood). It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the first past the post method of election. It is also one of ten constituencies in the West Scotla ...

and Paisley being gained by

Derek Mackay Derek Mackay (born 1977) is a Scottish politician who served as the Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Economy and Fair Work from 2016 to 2020. A former member of the Scottish National Party (SNP), he served as the Member of the Scottish Parliam ...

and George Adam, who became the first SNP parliamentarians in Renfrewshire. The remaining Labour seat, Renfrewshire South, was gained by the SNP's Tom Arthur at the 2016 Scottish election. Arthur and Adam were re-elected in

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

winning over half the vote in their respective seats, while Mackay was replaced by Renfrewshire Councillor Natalie Don.

Referendum results

A majority of Renfrewshire rejected independence in the

2014 Scottish independence referendum A referendum on Scottish independence from the United Kingdom was held in Scotland on 18 September 2014. The referendum question was, "Should Scotland be an independent country?", which voters answered with "Yes" or "No". The "No" side w ...

, although with 55,466 (47.2%) votes cast in favour and 62,067 (52.8%) against, the ''Yes'' vote was higher than the national result. The turnout was 117,612 or 87.3%, the highest recorded in the democratic era. With a turnout of 69.2% (88,197), Renfrewshire voted to remain in the

2016 European Union membership referendum The United Kingdom European Union membership referendum, commonly referred to as the EU referendum or the Brexit referendum, took place on 23 June 2016 in the United Kingdom (UK) and Gibraltar to ask the electorate whether the country shoul ...

with 64.8% (57,119) of votes cast in favour of remaining while 35.2% (31,010) were for leaving. This was the sixth highest vote for ''Remain'' out of Scotland's 32 councils.

Education

Renfrewshire contains the University of the West of Scotland, a new university that was granted university status in 1992 as the University of Paisley. Prior to this, the Paisley Technical College and School of Art was a Central Institution or polytechnic. In 2007 the university merged with Bell College, a further education college in

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

, South Lanarkshire and the UWS name was adopted. The university today has sites across the west of Scotland, notably also in Ayr and a joint campus in

Dumfries Dumfries ( ; sco, Dumfries; from gd, Dùn Phris ) is a market town and former royal burgh within the Dumfries and Galloway council area of Scotland. It is located near the mouth of the River Nith into the Solway Firth about by road from the ...

; the main campus remains in Paisley.

Further education Further education (often abbreviated FE) in the United Kingdom and Ireland is education in addition to that received at secondary school, that is distinct from the higher education (HE) offered in universities and other academic institutions. I ...

is provided by Paisley Campus of

West College Scotland West College Scotland ( sco, West College Scotland) is a further education institution in Scotland. It is the regional college for West Scotland and serves the populations of Inverclyde, Renfrewshire and West Dunbartonshire and surrounding areas, ...

in Paisley, which caters to around 20,000 students. The college also has sites in Inverclyde and

West Dumbartonshire West Dunbartonshire ( sco, Wast Dunbairtonshire; gd, Siorrachd Dhùn Breatann an Iar, ) is one of the 32 local government council areas of Scotland. The area lies to the west of the City of Glasgow and contains many of Glasgow's commuter town ...

. Renfrewshire contains eleven state secondary schools, 51 primary schools and three schools for children with additional support needs.

Transport

Renfrewshire is home to Scotland's second busiest airport, Glasgow International Airport, at Abbotsinch between Paisley and

. The presence of the airport and the proximity to Glasgow means that Renfrewshire supports one of the busiest transport infrastructures in Scotland. The airport is served by the M8 motorway, which terminates in the area, just east of Langbank, and is a major artery between northwest and southwest Scotland, via the

Erskine Bridge The Erskine Bridge is a multi span cable-stayed box girder bridge spanning the River Clyde in west central Scotland. The bridge connects West Dunbartonshire with Renfrewshire and can be used by all types of motor vehicles, cyclists and pedestrian ...

. Developments to ease traffic flow have included a lifting of tolls on the

, plans to extend the rail network to connect to the airport, and the M74 extension – which will handle traffic from Renfrewshire heading south, diverting it away from Glasgow city centre.
Renfrewshire also has bus links provided by FirstGroup,

McGill's Bus Services McGill's Bus Services is a bus operator based in Greenock, Scotland.Renfrewshire Events Guide

Paisley Daily Express
local daily newspaper
The Gazette Newspaper
weekly
Renfrewshire24.co.uk
online only news and events website {{Authority control Districts of Scotland Council areas of Scotland