South Lanarkshire Council ( gd, Comhairle Siorrachd Lannraig a Deas) is the unitary authority serving the

South Lanarkshire gd, Siorrachd Lannraig a Deas , image_skyline = , image_flag = , image_shield = Arms_slanarkshire.jpg , image_blank_emblem = Slanarks.jpg , blank_emblem_type = Council logo , image_map ...

council area in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. The council has its headquarters 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 Hamilto ...

, has 16,000 employees, and a budget of almost £1bn. The large and varied geographical territory takes in rural and upland areas, market towns such as

Lanark Lanark (; gd, Lannraig ; sco, Lanrik) is a town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, located 20 kilometres to the south-east of Hamilton. The town lies on the River Clyde, at its confluence with Mouse Water. In 2016, the town had a population of 9 ...

, Strathaven and

Carluke Carluke (; gd, Cathair MoLuaig) is a town that lies in the heart of the Lanarkshire countryside in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, northwest of Lanark and southeast of Wishaw. Carluke is largely a commuting town, with a variety of small stores ...

, the urban

burgh A burgh is an autonomous municipal corporation in Scotland and Northern England, usually a city, town, or toun in Scots. This type of administrative division existed from the 12th century, when King David I created the first royal burghs. Bur ...

s of

Rutherglen Rutherglen (, sco, Ruglen, gd, An Ruadh-Ghleann) is a town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, immediately south-east of the city of Glasgow, from its centre and directly south of the River Clyde. Having existed as a Lanarkshire burgh in its own ...

Cambuslang Cambuslang ( sco, Cammuslang, from gd, Camas Lang) is a town on the south-eastern outskirts of Greater Glasgow, Scotland. With approximately 30,000 residents, it is the 27th largest town in Scotland by population, although, never having had a ...

, and

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 ...

which was Scotland's first

new town New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator ...

. The area was formed in 1996 from the areas of Clydesdale,

and

districts, and some outer areas of Glasgow district (Rutherglen/ Fernhill, Cambuslang/ Halfway and part of King's Park/

Toryglen Toryglen is a district in southern Glasgow, Scotland, falling within the Langside ward under Glasgow City Council. It is approximately two miles south of the city centre, bounded to the west by Mount Florida, the north-west by Polmadie, to the ...

); all were previously within the Strathclyde region from 1975 but in historic Lanarkshire prior to that.From a pawnbrokers to Parliament - Tommy McAvoy looks back on a career that took him to the House of Lords
Marc McLean, Daily Record, 11 September 2018. Retrieved 1 January 2022.

Leadership

South Lanarkshire operates a cabinet style system, with key decisions being taken by the Executive Committee, under the leadership of the Council Leader, and approved by the council, led by the provost. The first leader of South Lanarkshire Council, selected from among the sitting councillors, was Tom McCabe who previously held the same office at Hamilton District.Tributes to former Hamilton MSP Tom McCabe, who passed away this week aged 60
Daily Record, 23 April 2015 When McCabe was elected as an MSP in 1999, the role went to his deputy Eddie McAvoy - brother of one of the region's MPs

Tommy McAvoy Thomas McLaughlin McAvoy, Baron McAvoy, (born 14 December 1943) is a British Labour and Co-operative politician serving as a life peer in the House of Lords since 2010. He served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Glasgow Rutherglen from ...

- who held the post for the next 18 years until his retirement ahead of the 2017 election. The new leader from 2017 was John Ross. The ambassadorial role of provost is also filled by one of the serving councillors. Office holders include: * Sam Casserly (1995–1999) - previous provost of

district * Alan Dick (1999–2003) * Mushtaq Ahmad (2003–2007) * Russell Clearie (2007–2012) * Eileen Logan (2012–2017) - previous provost of Clydesdale district * Ian McAllan (2017–2022) * Margaret Cooper (2022–present)

Politics

Composition

Elections

* 1995 South Lanarkshire Council election * 1999 South Lanarkshire Council election *

2003 South Lanarkshire Council election Elections to South Lanarkshire, South Lanarkshire Council (67 seats) 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 electi ...

2007 South Lanarkshire Council election Elections to South Lanarkshire Council took place on 3 May 2007 on the same day as the 31 other Scottish local government elections. The election was the first to use the 20 new wards created as a result of the Local Governance (Scotland) Act ...

2012 South Lanarkshire Council election Elections to South Lanarkshire Council took place on 3 May 2012 on the same day as the 31 other Scottish local government elections. Labour retained their position as the largest party on the council as they gained three seat from 2007 but we ...

2017 South Lanarkshire Council election Elections to South Lanarkshire Council were held on 4 May 2017 on the same day as the 31 other local authorities in Scotland. The election used the twenty wards created under the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004, with 64 Councillors being el ...

* 2022 South Lanarkshire Council election

Wards

In the council's initial 12 years, individual wards (73 in 1995, adjusted down to 67 in 1999 and 2003) each electing one councillor using the

First past the post In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast thei ...

method. Since the

, there are 20 council wards in South Lanarkshire, each serving a population ranging from 13,000 to 20,000 and each ward represented on the council by 3 or 4 councillors elected using

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 p ...

; in 2007 and 2012 this produced a total of 67 available seats, which was adjusted down to 64 in 2017 along with boundary adjustments, although the same number of wards overall. South_Lanarkshire_UK_ward_map_2017_(blank)

South_Lanarkshire_UK_ward_map_2017_(blank)

Headquarters

The Council Headquarters building, on Almada Street,

, was built as the

Lanark County Lanark County is a county located in the Canadian province of Ontario. Its county seat is Perth, which was first settled in 1816.Brown, Howard Morton, 1984. Lanark Legacy, Nineteenth Century Glimpses of on Ontario County. Corporation of the C ...

Buildings in 1963, and designed by Lanark council architect D G Bannerman,Queen Mother opens Hamilton's county buildings in 1964
Daily Record, 21 April 2014 replacing

Hamilton Townhouse Hamilton Townhouse is a building in Cadzow Street in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Scotland, which is operated by South Lanarkshire Council. It contains both the town's main public hall (formerly known as Hamilton Town Hall) and public library, a ...

in the function. The 17 storey, tower is the tallest building in the council area, is Category A-listed, and is a highly visible landmark across this part of the Clyde Valley. The modernist design was influenced by the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoni ...

building in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. At the front of the building is the circular council chamber, and a plaza with water features.

References

{{South Lanarkshire elections Local authorities of Scotland Politics of South Lanarkshire Organisations based in South Lanarkshire Hamilton, South Lanarkshire