East Lothian Council

East Lothian District Council had been created in 1975 under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, as one of four districts within the Lothian region (along with Edinburgh, Midlothian and West Lothian, each having some differences from the territory of their corresponding historic counties). All four districts of Lothian became single tier local authorities in 1996, under the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994, when the council adopted its current name as East Lothian Council.^[3]

East Lothian District Council contains twenty Community Councils.^[4] A Community Council is a voluntary organisation set up by statute by the Local Authority and run by local residents to act on behalf of its area as the most local tier of elected representation. The Association of East Lothian Community Councils (AELCC) is a representative forum for East Lothian District Council community councils.^[5] A list of Community Councils is maintained by the local authority.^[6]

The council has been under no overall control since 2007. It has been run by a minority Labour minority administration since 2017.

The first election to the East Lothian District 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. 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:^[7]

East Lothian District Council

East Lothian Council

Since 2007 elections have been held every five years under the single transferable vote system, introduced by the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004. Election results since 1995 have been as follows:^[7]

The council is based at John Muir House, Haddington, which forms a modern extension to the County Buildings, Haddington, which had been the headquarters of the pre-1975 East Lothian County Council. Council meetings are held at Haddington Town House.^[21][22]