Glasgow City Council (

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic (, ; Endonym and exonym, endonym: ), also known as Scots Gaelic or simply Gaelic, is a Celtic language native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a member of the Goidelic language, Goidelic branch of Celtic, Scottish Gaelic, alongs ...

: ''Comhairle Baile Ghlaschu'') is the

local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of a higher-level political or administrative unit, such a ...

authority for

Glasgow City council area Glasgow City Council (Scottish Gaelic: ''Comhairle Baile Ghlaschu'') is the local government authority for Glasgow City council area, Scotland. In its modern form it was created in 1996. Glasgow was formerly governed by a corporation, also kno ...

, Scotland. In its modern form it was created in 1996. Glasgow was formerly governed by a corporation, also known as the town council, from the granting of its first

burgh A burgh ( ) is an Autonomy, autonomous municipal corporation in Scotland, usually a city, town, or toun in Scots language, Scots. This type of administrative division existed from the 12th century, when David I of Scotland, King David I created ...

charter in the 1170s until 1975. From 1975 until 1996 the city was governed by City of Glasgow District Council, a lower-tier authority within the

Strathclyde Strathclyde ( in Welsh language, Welsh; in Scottish Gaelic, Gaelic, meaning 'strath

alley An alley or alleyway is a narrow lane, footpath, path, or passageway, often reserved for pedestrians, which usually runs between, behind, or within buildings in towns and cities. It is also a rear access or service road (back lane), or a path, w ...

of the River Clyde') was one of nine former Local government in Scotland, local government Regions and districts of Scotland, regions of Scotland cre ...

region. Glasgow City Council has been under

no overall control In the context of local authorities in the United Kingdom no overall control (NOC; ) is a situation in which no single political group achieves a majority of seats, comparable to a hung parliament. Of the 248 councils who had members up for elec ...

since 2017, being led by a

Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party (SNP; ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic party. The party holds 61 of the 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament, and holds 9 out of the 57 Scottish seats in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, ...

minority administration. The council has its headquarters at Glasgow City Chambers in George Square, completed in 1889.

History

Glasgow Corporation

Glasgow was given its first

charter sometime between 1175 and 1178 by

William the Lion William the Lion (), sometimes styled William I (; ) and also known by the nickname ; e.g. Annals of Ulster, s.a. 1214.6; Annals of Loch Cé, s.a. 1213.10. ( 1142 – 4 December 1214), reigned as King of Alba from 1165 to 1214. His almost 49 ...

. It was then run by "Glasgow Town Council", also known as "Glasgow Corporation", until 1975. The city was part of

Lanarkshire Lanarkshire, also called the County of Lanark (; ), is a Counties of Scotland, historic county, Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area and registration county in the Central Lowlands and Southern Uplands of Scotland. The county is no l ...

until 1893, but the functions which operated at county level were relatively few, largely being limited to lieutenancy and

sheriffdom A sheriffdom is a judicial district in Scotland, led by a sheriff principal. Since 1 January 1975, there have been six sheriffdoms. Each sheriffdom is divided into a series of sheriff court districts, and each sheriff court is presided over by a r ...

. When elected county councils were created in 1890 under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889, Glasgow Corporation was deemed capable of running its own affairs and so the city was excluded from the area controlled by Lanarkshire County Council, although the county council nevertheless chose to meet in Glasgow as a conveniently accessible location. In 1893, Glasgow became its own county for lieutenancy and sheriffdom purposes too, being made a county of itself. The boundaries of the burgh were extended several times to incorporate areas where the urban zone outgrew the previous boundaries or where there were plans for development. These significant expansions comprise: *1830 - Blythswood *1846 - Anderston, Calton, and

Gorbals The Gorbals is an area in the city of Glasgow, Scotland, and former burgh, on the south bank of the River Clyde. By the late 19th century, it had become densely populated; rural migrants and immigrants were attracted by the new industries and e ...

*1891 - Crosshill, Govanhill, Pollokshields, Pollokshields East, Hillhead, and Maryhill *1905 -

Kinning Park Kinning Park is a southern suburb of Glasgow, Scotland. It was formerly a separate police burgh between 1871 and 1905 before being absorbed by the city. In 1897, it had a population of 14,326.Govan Parish School Board, ''The Members' Year Book ...

*1912 -

Govan Govan ( ; Cumbric: ''Gwovan''; Scots language, Scots: ''Gouan''; Scottish Gaelic: ''Baile a' Ghobhainn'') is a district, parish, and former burgh now part of southwest Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated west of Glasgow city centre, on the sout ...

, Partick, and Pollokshaws *1926 -

Cardonald Cardonald (; ,
) is an outlying suburb of the Scotlan ...

, Crookston, Lambhill, Mansewood, Millerston, Nitshill, Scotstounhill, and Yoker *1938 -

Castlemilk Castlemilk () is a district of Glasgow, Scotland. It lies to the far south of the city centre, adjacent to the Croftfoot and Simshill residential areas within the city to the north-west, the town of Rutherglen - neighbourhoods of Rutherglen#Sp ...

, Darnley, Drumchapel, and Easterhouse

City of Glasgow District Council

Local government across Scotland was reorganised in 1975 under the

Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 (c. 65) is an Act of Parliament (UK), act of Parliament of the United Kingdom that altered local government of Scotland, local government in Scotland on 16 May 1975. The act followed and largely impleme ...

, which replaced the counties and burghs with a two-tier structure of upper-tier regions and lower-tier districts. Glasgow became a district within the

Strathclyde Strathclyde ( in Welsh language, Welsh; in Scottish Gaelic, Gaelic, meaning 'strath

of the River Clyde') was one of nine former Local government in Scotland, local government Regions and districts of Scotland, regions of Scotland cre ...

region. The local authority was therefore renamed the " City of Glasgow District Council". The Glasgow district covered a larger area than the pre-1975 city, gaining Baillieston,

Cambuslang Cambuslang (, from ) 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 town hall, it may also be cons ...

, Carmunnock, Carmyle, Garrowhill,

Mount Vernon Mount Vernon is the former residence and plantation of George Washington, a Founding Father, commander of the Continental Army in the Revolutionary War, and the first president of the United States, and his wife, Martha. An American landmar ...

Rutherglen Rutherglen (; , ) 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 previously existed as a separate Lanarkshire burgh, in 1975 Rutherglen lo ...

, and Springboig.

Glasgow City Council

Local government was reorganised again in 1996 under the

Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 The Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 (c. 39) is an Act of parliament, Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that created the current Local government in Scotland, local government structure of 32 Unitary authority, unitary authori ...

, which abolished the regions and districts created in 1975 and established 32 single-tier

council area {{Unreferenced, date=May 2019, bot=noref (GreenC bot) A council area is one of the areas defined in Schedule 1 of the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 and is under the control of one of the local authorities in Scotland created by that Ac ...

s across Scotland, one being the city of Glasgow. The council adopted its modern name of "Glasgow City Council" following these reforms. The council area created in 1996 was smaller than the district which had existed between 1975 and 1996, with the Rutherglen and Cambuslang area being transferred instead to the new South Lanarkshire council area following a local referendum.

Political control

''For political control before 1975 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 House of Commons of the United Kingdom, UK Parl ...

'' The first election to the City of Glasgow District Council was held in 1974, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing corporation 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: City of Glasgow District Council Glasgow City Council

Leadership

''For leaders before 1996 see

'' 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. The Lord Provost serves both as the chair of the city council and as a figurehead for the entire city, and is elected by the city councillors from among i ...

, who convenes meetings of the council and performs associated tasks as a general civic leader. The role dates from the 15th century. Since 1893, when the city was made a county of itself, the Lord Provost has also acted as

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 responsibility ov ...

of the city. The current Lord Provost, elected in May 2022 after that month's

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

, is Jacqueline McLaren. Political leadership is provided by the

leader of the council Leadership, is defined as the ability of an individual, group, or organization to "", influence, or guide other individuals, teams, or organizations. "Leadership" is a contested term. Specialist literature debates various viewpoints on the co ...

. The council changed from an executive-led governance system to a committee-led system in September 2017, with the leader of the council since then chairing the City Administration Committee. The leaders since 1996 have been:

Composition

Following the 2022 election and subsequent by-elections and changes of allegiance up to January 2025, the composition of the council was: The next election is due in 2027.

Elections

The council consists of 85

councillor A councillor, alternatively councilman, councilwoman, councilperson, or council member, is someone who sits on, votes in, or is a member of, a council. This is typically an elected representative of an electoral district in a municipal or re ...

s elected for a five-year term from 23 wards. Since 2007 elections have been held every five years under the

single transferable vote The single transferable vote (STV) or proportional-ranked choice voting (P-RCV) is a multi-winner electoral system in which each voter casts a single vote in the form of a ranked ballot. Voters have the option to rank candidates, and their vot ...

system, 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 government in Scotland, local authorities in Scotland by the single transfera ...

to replace the

first-past-the-post First-past-the-post (FPTP)—also called choose-one, first-preference plurality (FPP), or simply plurality—is a single-winner voting rule. Voters mark one candidate as their favorite, or First-preference votes, first-preference, and the cand ...

system. The most recent full council election took place on 5 May 2022, in which no party held a majority of the seats, as had also been the case in the preceding 2017 election. The

remained the largest party, winning 37 seats, whilst Labour won 36 seats, an increase relative to its 2017 result. The Greens won ten seats, also improving on their position in 2017, whilst the

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

lost all but two councillors. The next election is due to take place on 6 May 2027. Election results since 1995 have been as follows:

Premises

The council has its meeting place and main offices at Glasgow City Chambers in

George Square George Square () is the principal Town square, civic square in the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It is one of six squares in the city centre, the others being Cathedral Square, Glasgow, Cathedral Square, St Andrew's Square, Glasgow, St Andrew's ...

. Glasgow Corporation was based at the

Tolbooth A tolbooth or town house was the main municipal building of a Scotland, Scottish burgh, from medieval times until the 19th century. The tolbooth usually provided a council meeting chamber, a court house and a jail. The tolbooth was one of th ...

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. It marks the notional boundary between the city centre and the East End As a major junction at the gate ...

from at least the fifteenth century, which was rebuilt several times. The last Tolbooth on the site was built in 1626. Most of that building was demolished in 1921, leaving only the steeple standing as a clock tower. In 1814 the corporation vacated the Tolbooth and moved to the new Justiciary Buildings on Saltmarket, overlooking

Glasgow Green Glasgow Green is a park in the east end of Glasgow, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde. Established in the 15th century, it is the oldest park in the city. It connects to the south via the St Andrew's Suspension Bridge. History In ...

. The building served both as council chamber and offices for the corporation and as the courthouse for the Lower Ward of Lanarkshire. In 1844 the corporation and sheriff court moved to the new

Sheriff Court A sheriff court () is the principal local civil and criminal court in Scotland, with exclusive jurisdiction over all civil cases with a monetary value up to , and with the jurisdiction to hear any criminal case except treason, murder, and ra ...

on Wilson Street. The Justiciary Buildings on Saltmarket thereafter served solely as a courthouse. In 1889 the council moved to its own purpose-built headquarters at the City Chambers in George Square.City Chambers (Mitchell Library, Glasgow Collection)
The Glasgow Story

Wards

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