Strathclyde ( in Welsh; in 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 The River Clyde (, ) is a river that flows into the Firth of Clyde, in the west of Scotland. It is the eighth-longest river in the United Kingdom, and the second longest in Scotland after the River Tay. It runs through the city of Glasgow. Th ...

') was one of nine former

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 ...

regions In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

created in 1975 by 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 ...

and abolished in 1996 by 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 ...

. The Strathclyde region had 19

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 ...

. The region was named after the early medieval

Kingdom of Strathclyde Strathclyde (, "valley of the River Clyde, Clyde"), also known as Cumbria, was a Celtic Britons, Brittonic kingdom in northern Britain during the Scotland in the Middle Ages, Middle Ages. It comprised parts of what is now southern Scotland an ...

centred on

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 ...

, but covered a broader geographic area than its namesake.

History

The Strathclyde region was created in 1975 under the

, which established a two-tier structure of local government across Scotland comprising upper-tier regions and lower-tier districts. Strathclyde covered the whole area of six

counties A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

and parts of another two, which were all abolished for local government purposes at the same time: *

Argyll Argyll (; archaically Argyle; , ), sometimes called Argyllshire, is a Shires of Scotland, historic county and registration county of western Scotland. The county ceased to be used for local government purposes in 1975 and most of the area ...

(except

Ardnamurchan Ardnamurchan (, ) is a peninsula in the ward management area of Lochaber, Highland, Scotland, noted for being very unspoiled and undisturbed. Its remoteness is accentuated by the main access route being a single track road for much of its l ...

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, municip ...

and the electoral divisions of

Ballachulish The village of Ballachulish ( or , from Scottish Gaelic ) in Lochaber, Highland, Scotland, is centred on former slate quarries, and now primarily serves tourists in the area. Name The name Ballachulish (from Scottish Gaelic, ''Baile a' Chao ...

and Kinlochleven) *

Ayrshire Ayrshire (, ) is a Counties of Scotland, historic county and registration county, in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. The lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area of Ayrshire and Arran covers the entirety ...

Buteshire The County of Bute (), also known as Buteshire, is a historic county and registration county of Scotland. Now replaced by Argyll and Bute for the Isle of Bute, with the Argyll and Bute Council. The Isle of Arran and The Cumbraes are now ...

Dunbartonshire Dunbartonshire () or the County of Dumbarton is a Shires of Scotland, historic county, lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area and registration county in the west central Lowlands of Scotland lying to the north of the River Clyde. Dunbar ...

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

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 ...

Renfrewshire Renfrewshire () (; ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. Renfrewshire is located in the west central Lowlands. It borders East Renfrewshire, Glasgow, Inverclyde, North Ayrshire and West Dunbartonshire, and lies on the southern ba ...

Stirlingshire Stirlingshire or the County of Stirling ( ) is a Shires of Scotland, historic county and registration county of Scotland. Its county town is Stirling.Registers of Scotland. Publications, leaflets, Land Register Counties. It borders Perthshir ...

(part, being the burgh of Kilsyth, Western No. 3 District, the electoral division of Kilsyth West, and the polling district of Kilsyth East (Banton)) The region was named after the ancient British or

Brython The Britons ( *''Pritanī'', , ), also known as Celtic Britons or Ancient Britons, were the Celtic people who inhabited Great Britain from at least the British Iron Age until the High Middle Ages, at which point they diverged into the Welsh, ...

ic Damnonii

. The kingdom had broadly covered the southern part of the local government region created in 1975, thus with the Argyll and Buteshire parts not having been within the ancient kingdom. Conversely, the kingdom had included areas further to the south, which were never part of the post-1975 Strathclyde (

Dumfries and Galloway Dumfries and Galloway (; ) is one of the 32 unitary council areas of Scotland, located in the western part of the Southern Uplands. It is bordered by East Ayrshire, South Ayrshire, and South Lanarkshire to the north; Scottish Borders to the no ...

, as well as

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancash ...

in England). Dalian House - geograph

Strathclyde Regional Council was responsible for education, social work, police, fire, sewage,

strategic planning Strategic planning is the activity undertaken by an organization through which it seeks to define its future direction and makes decisions such as resource allocation aimed at achieving its intended goals. "Strategy" has many definitions, but it ...

, roads, and transport. It employed almost 100,000 public servants, almost half of whom were teachers, lecturers and others in the education service. Strathclyde region was abolished in 1996 under the

which replaced regions and districts with unitary council areas. The region was divided into twelve

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 ...

Argyll and Bute Argyll and Bute (; , ) is one of 32 unitary authority, unitary council areas of Scotland, council areas in Scotland and a lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area. The current lord-lieutenant for Argyll and Bute is Jane Margaret MacLeod ...

East Ayrshire East Ayrshire (; ) is one of 32 unitary council areas of Scotland. It shares borders with Dumfries and Galloway, East Renfrewshire, North Ayrshire, South Ayrshire and South Lanarkshire. The headquarters of the council are located on London Roa ...

East Dunbartonshire East Dunbartonshire (; , ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders Glasgow City Council Area to the south, North Lanarkshire to the east, Stirling (council area), Stirling to the north, and West Dunbartonshire to the west. East ...

East Renfrewshire East Renfrewshire (; ) is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It was formed in 1996, as a successor to the Eastwood (district), Eastwood district of the Strathclyde region. The northeastern part of the council area is close to Glasgow and ma ...

, Glasgow City (created as ''City of Glasgow''),

Inverclyde Inverclyde (, , , "mouth of the Clyde") is one of 32 council areas used for local government in Scotland. Together with the East Renfrewshire and Renfrewshire council areas, Inverclyde forms part of the historic county of Renfrewshire, which ...

North Ayrshire North Ayrshire (, ) is one of 32 Council areas of Scotland, 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 s ...

North Lanarkshire North Lanarkshire (; ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders the north-east of the Glasgow City council area and contains many of Glasgow's suburbs, commuter towns, and villages. It also borders East Dunbartonshire, Falkirk (co ...

South Ayrshire South Ayrshire (; , ) is one of thirty-two council areas of Scotland, covering the southern part of Ayrshire. It borders onto Dumfries and Galloway, East Ayrshire and North Ayrshire. South Ayrshire had an estimated population in 2021 of 112,45 ...

South Lanarkshire South Lanarkshire (; ) is one of 32 unitary authorities of Scotland. It borders the south-east of the Glasgow City council area and contains some of Greater Glasgow's suburban towns, as well as many rural towns and villages. It also shares bor ...

, and

West Dunbartonshire West Dunbartonshire (; , ) is one of the 32 Local government in Scotland, local government council areas of Scotland. The area lies to the north-west of the Glasgow City council area and contains many of Glasgow's commuter towns and villages. ...

(created as '' Dumbarton and Clydebank'')

Geography

The Strathclyde region was on the west coast of Scotland and stretched from the Highlands in the north to the

Southern Uplands The Southern Uplands () are the southernmost and least populous of mainland Scotland's three major geographic areas (the others being the Central Lowlands and the Highlands). The term is used both to describe the geographical region and to col ...

in the south. It included some of the

Inner Hebrides The Inner Hebrides ( ; ) is an archipelago off the west coast of mainland Scotland, to the south east of the Outer Hebrides. Together these two island chains form the Hebrides, which experience a mild oceanic climate. The Inner Hebrides compri ...

in the north-west but also contained Scotland's largest urban area of Glasgow. As a local government region, its population, in excess of 2.5 million, was by far the largest of the regions and contained half of the population of Scotland.

Political control

Politics in the region were dominated by the Labour Party. The first regional council convener was the Reverend Geoff Shaw, who died in 1978. It was largely due to his leadership that the regional council forged its innovative strategy on multiple deprivation, which remained its central commitment to the end of the region's life through "Social Strategy for the Eighties" (1982) and "SS for the 90s". The first election to Strathclyde Regional Council was held in 1974, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until the new system came into force on 16 May 1975. Throughout the council's existence Labour held a majority of the seats:

Leadership

The council had two main leadership roles: a convener who acted as ceremonial head and presided at council meetings, and a

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 ...

to provide political leadership. Conveners Leaders

Elections

Elections were held every four years.

District result maps

File:Strathclyde Regional Council election, 1982.svg, 1982 results map File:Strathclyde Regional Council election, 1986.svg, 1986 results map File:Strathclyde Regional Council election, 1990.svg, 1990 results map File:Strathclyde Regional Council election, 1994.svg, 1994 results map

Premises

Glasgow Old High School statues - geograph

The council initially rented offices called Melrose House at 19 Cadogan Street in Glasgow to act as an interim headquarters pending a decision being taken on a permanent headquarters. Various other offices around the centre of Glasgow were also used for additional office space, notably on India Street (the

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 ...

was not used by the regional administration and was instead the headquarters for the Glasgow district). In 1976, the nearby former Glasgow High School buildings at 94 Elmbank Street were vacated. The council converted the former school buildings to become its headquarters, using the school's dining room block of 1897 to become a council chamber, whilst using the India Street offices as additional accommodation. The remodelled school and neighbouring offices were formally opened by

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

on 2 November 1979, when the whole complex of eleven buildings was collectively renamed " Strathclyde House". After the council's abolition several of the modern office buildings which made up Strathclyde House were gradually sold off for redevelopment. The old High School buildings, which are category A listed buildings, were used by

Glasgow City Council Glasgow City Council (Scottish Gaelic: ''Comhairle Baile Ghlaschu'') is the Local government in Scotland, local government authority for Glasgow, Glasgow City council area, Scotland. In its modern form it was created in 1996. Glasgow was former ...

as additional office space. The council chamber there was briefly used in 2000 by the

Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament ( ; ) is the Devolution in the United Kingdom, devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. It is located in the Holyrood, Edinburgh, Holyrood area of Edinburgh, and is frequently referred to by the metonym 'Holyrood'. ...

, whilst its new permanent home at Holyrood was under construction and the temporary buildings in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

were booked out. Glasgow City Council sold the old High School buildings in 2010 but a new use has yet to be found for them. By

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

, all of the 1960s/70s-era buildings of the complex had been demolished; part of the site being used for a new headquarters building for Scottish Power whilst various residential developments have been proposed for the remainder.

Emergency services

Until April 2013, the area was also used as a police force area, covered by Strathclyde Police, and a

fire service A fire department (North American English) or fire brigade (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English), also known as a fire company, fire authority, fire district, fire and rescue, or fire service in some areas, is an organi ...

area, covered by

Strathclyde Fire and Rescue Service Strathclyde Fire & Rescue was the statutory Fire Services in Scotland, fire and rescue service for the area of Strathclyde, Scotland between 1975 and 2013. It was the largest fire and rescue service in Scotland, and one of the largest in Europe. ...

. Both have now been replaced by single services (

Police Scotland Police Scotland (), officially the Police Service of Scotland (), is the national police force of Scotland. It was formed in 2013, through the merging of eight regional police forces in Scotland, as well as the specialist services of the Scottis ...

and

Scottish Fire and Rescue Service The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) is the national fire and rescue service of Scotland. It was formed by the merger of eight regional fire services in the country on 1 April 2013. It thus became the largest fire brigade in the Unite ...

Transport

Originally known as Strathclyde Transport and later as SPT, a name still in use today. Strathclyde Transport managed transportation services for the region running rail services in strathclyde in partnership with

British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. Originally a trading brand of the Railway Executive of the British Transport Comm ...

. Strathclyde Transport also ran busses in the region under the brand Strathclyde Buses up until bus deregulation in 1986, as well running the Glasgow subway, the third oldest underground system in the world. Strathclyde Transport also was involved in transport projects for the region some examples include: * The re-opening of the Argyle Line * The 1994 Strathclyde

Tram A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which Rolling stock, vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some ...

proposal Strathclyde Transport also administered the ZoneCard integrated ticketing system as well as many other tickets to encourage intermodal travel and an integrated ticketing system, with Zonecard still remaining today. The SPT name is still in use today as a transport area, covered by Strathclyde Partnership for Transport. The area today is covered by Strathclyde Partnership for Transport and previously Strathclyde Passenger Transport is smaller than the original region, as most of

now lies outside its remit.

Sub-regions and districts

Except for

and the City of Glasgow, the 19 districts were grouped to form 'sub-regions' or 'divisions', each named after a historic county. The Argyll and Bute district and the City of Glasgow district were sub-regions in their own right, and Argyll and Bute was named after two counties.

Successor Council Areas

References

External links

* {{Coord, 55, 44, N, 5, 02, W, type:adm3rd_region:GB_dim:100000, display=title Regions of Scotland 1996 disestablishments in Scotland 1975 establishments in Scotland States and territories disestablished in 1996 States and territories established in 1975 Politics of Glasgow Politics of South Lanarkshire Politics of West Dunbartonshire Politics of North Lanarkshire Politics of Renfrewshire Politics of East Renfrewshire Politics of East Dunbartonshire Politics of Argyll and Bute Politics of Inverclyde Politics of North Ayrshire Politics of East Ayrshire Politics of South Ayrshire Organisations based in Glasgow sv:Strathclyde