South Lanarkshire Council
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South Lanarkshire Council | |
|---|---|
| Unitary Authority Council | |
 Coat of arms | |
 Council logo | |
| Type | |
| Type | |
| History | |
| Founded | 1 April 1996 |
| Leadership | |
Paul Manning since 2023[1] | |
| Structure | |
| Seats | 64 |
 | |
Political groups |
|
| Elections | |
| Single transferable vote | |
Last election | 5 May 2022 |
Next election | 6 May 2027 |
| Meeting place | |
 | |
| Council Offices, Almada Street, Hamilton, ML3 0AA | |
| Website | |
| www | |
South Lanarkshire Council is the unitary authority serving the South Lanarkshire council area in Scotland. The council has its headquarters in Hamilton, has 16,000 employees, and an annual budget of almost £1bn. The large and varied geographical territory takes in rural and upland areas, market towns such as Lanark, Strathaven and Carluke, the urban burghs of Rutherglen, Cambuslang, and East Kilbride which was Scotland's first new town. The area was formed in 1996 from the areas of Clydesdale,[2] Hamilton and East Kilbride districts, and some outer areas of Glasgow district (Rutherglen/Fernhill, Cambuslang/Halfway and part of King's Park/Toryglen); all were previously within the Strathclyde region from 1975 but in historic Lanarkshire prior to that.[3][4][5][6][7][8]
Leadership
The council has been under no overall control since 2017. Following the 2022 election a Labour-led partnership with the Liberal Democrats and some of the independent councillors formed to run the council.[9]
The first election to South Lanarkshire Council was held in 1995, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until the new system came into force on 1 April 1996. Political control of the council since 1996 has been as follows:[10]
| Party in control | Years | |
|---|---|---|
| Labour | 1996–2007 | |
| No overall control | 2007–2013 | |
| Labour | 2013–2017 | |
| No overall control | 2017– | |
The role of provost is largely ceremonial in South Lanarkshire. They chair full council meetings and have an ambassadorial role as the council's civic figurehead. The provost is chosen from among the councillors and is expected to be politically impartial, although they are given an additional casting vote in the event of a tie.[11] The provosts since 1996 have been:
- Sam Casserly (1995–1999) - previous provost of Hamilton district[12][13]
- Alan Dick (1999–2003)[14]
- Mushtaq Ahmad (2003–2007)[15]
- Russell Clearie (2007–2012)[16][17]
- Eileen Logan (2012–2017) - previous provost of Clydesdale district[18][19]
- Ian McAllan (2017–2022)[20]
- Margaret Cooper (2022–present)[21]
Political leadership is provided by the leader of the council, who chairs the council's executive committee.[22] The first leader, Tom McCabe, was previously the leader of Hamilton District Council, one of the new council's predecessors.[12] 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 - who held the post for the next 18 years until his retirement at the 2017 election.[23] The leaders of South Lanarkshire Council since 1996 have been:[24]
| Councillor | Party | From | To | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tom McCabe[12][25] | Labour | 1 Apr 1996 | May 1999 | |
| Eddie McAvoy[26][27][28] | Labour | May 1999 | May 2017 | |
| John Ross[29][30] | SNP | 18 May 2017 | May 2022 | |
| Joe Fagan[21][9] | Labour | 18 May 2022 | ||
Composition
Following the 2022 election and subsequent by-elections and changes of allegiance up to March 2025, the composition of the council was as follows:[31][32]
| Party | Councillors | |
|---|---|---|
| Labour | 25 | |
| SNP | 25 | |
| Conservative | 5 | |
| Liberal Democrats | 3 | |
| Reform | 2 | |
| Green | 1 | |
| Independent | 3 | |
| Total | 64 | |
Two of the independent councillors sit together as the "Independent Group", and the other does not belong to a group.[33] The next election is due in 2027.[32]
Elections
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:[10]
| Year | Seats | SNP | Labour | Conservative | Liberal Democrats | Green | Independent / Other | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | 73 | 8 | 61 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | Labour majority |
| 1999 | 67 | 10 | 54 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | New ward boundaries.[34] Labour majority |
| 2003 | 67 | 10 | 50 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3 | Labour majority |
| 2007 | 67 | 24 | 30 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 3 | New ward boundaries.[35] |
| 2012 | 67 | 28 | 33 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | |
| 2017 | 64 | 27 | 22 | 14 | 1 | 0 | 0 | New ward boundaries.[36] |
| 2022 | 64 | 27 | 24 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 2 | Labour / Lib Dem minority administration[9] |
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