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-loc ...

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 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, subdivision ...

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 in

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 ...

. 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 which was also headquartered in Glasgow. Created under the

Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 (c. 65) is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom that altered local government in Scotland on 16 May 1975. The Act followed and largely implemented the report of the Royal Commission on Local Gove ...

, 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-empower ...

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 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 ...

of Rutherglen), part of a

Carmunnock Carmunnock ( gd, Cathair Mhanach) is a conservation village within the City of Glasgow boundary, lying within of East Kilbride and Rutherglen in South Lanarkshire and Busby in East Renfrewshire. The nearest other district within Glasgow is C ...

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. Geogra ...

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 Springboig is a neighbourhood in the east end of the Scottish city of Glasgow, situated north of the River Clyde. Administratively, it has been within the city's East Centre ward since 2017, having previously been in the Baillieston ward. Sp ...

''. The city council established in 1996 ( Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994) 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 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.

Council structure

The council is ceremonially headed by the Lord Provost of Glasgow, who is elected to convene the council and perform associated tasks as a general civic leader and

Lord Lieutenant A lord-lieutenant ( ) is the British monarch's personal representative in each lieutenancy area of the United Kingdom. Historically, each lieutenant was responsible for organising the county's militia. In 1871, the lieutenant's responsibilit ...

; 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 operat ...

, 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 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 th ...

. 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 The politics of Glasgow, Scotland's largest city by population, are expressed in the deliberations and decisions of Glasgow City Council, in elections to the council, the Scottish Parliament and the UK Parliament. Local government As one of ...

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 p ...

system of election. This system was introduced by the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004, as a means of ensuring a reasonably proportionately representative outcome. The most recent full council election took place on 5 May 2022. The

became the largest party (37) but did not gain an overall majority; Labour returned more councillors (36) and was one seat short from the SNP. The Scottish Greens also returned more councillors (10) whilst the Conservatives 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; 1 Scottish Militant Labour * 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: **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 the L ...

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

Solidarity ''Solidarity'' is an awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological sense of unity of groups or classes. It is based on class collaboration.''Merriam Webster'', http://www.merriam-webster.com/dicti ...

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 Glasgow First was a political party based in Glasgow, Scotland. It was formed in March 2012 after a series of Labour members of Glasgow City Council, said to be a fifth of their number, either resigned or lost the whip. The immediate cause was ...

* 2017 Glasgow City Council electionLocal 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