North Lanarkshire Council is one of the 32 local authorities of Scotland, covering the North Lanarkshire council area. The council is the second largest Scottish council by number of councillors, having 77 members.
North Lanarkshire Council | |
---|---|
Leadership | |
Des Murray since 2018[3] | |
Structure | |
Seats | 77 |
24 / 77 | |
34 / 77 | |
5 / 77 | |
4 / 77 | |
1 / 77 | |
1 / 77
| |
PCNL | 7 / 77 |
Elections | |
Single transferable vote | |
Last election | 5 May 2022 |
Next election | 2027 |
Meeting place | |
Civic Centre, Windmillhill Street, Motherwell, ML1 1AB | |
Website | |
www |
The council has been under no overall control since 2017. Since August 2022 the council has been led by a Labour minority administration.[4]
The first election to North 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:[5]
Party in control | Years | |
---|---|---|
Labour | 1996–2017 | |
No overall control | 2017–present |
The leaders of the council since 1996 have been:[6]
Councillor | Party | From | To | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Harry McGuigan | Labour | 1 Apr 1996 | 17 Sep 1998 | |
Jim McCabe[7] | Labour | 17 Sep 1998 | 29 Feb 2016 | |
Jim Logue | Labour | 8 Mar 2016 | May 2022 | |
Jordan Linden[8] | SNP | 19 May 2022 | 27 Jul 2022 | |
Jim Logue | Labour | 11 Aug 2022 |
Following the 2022 election and subsequent changes of allegiance and by-elections up to July 2023, the composition of the council was:
Party | Councillors | |
---|---|---|
Labour | 33 | |
SNP | 25 | |
Independent | 12 | |
Conservative | 5 | |
Scottish Green | 1 | |
British Unionist Party | 1 | |
Total | 77 |
Of the independent councillors, eight sit together as the "Progressive Change North Lanarkshire" group, all of whom had been elected as SNP councillors.[9] The other four independent councillors do not belong to any group.[10] The next election is due in 2027.
The council is based at Motherwell Civic Centre on Windmillhill Street in Motherwell. The building was built between 1965 and 1970 for the former Motherwell and Wishaw Town Council, and was subsequently used as the headquarters of Motherwell District Council between 1975 and 1996.[11]
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:[5]
Year | Seats | SNP | Labour | Conservative | BUP | Green | Liberal Democrats | Independent / Other | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1995 | 69 | 7 | 59 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | Labour majority |
1999 | 70 | 12 | 56 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | New ward boundaries.[12] Labour majority |
2003 | 70 | 13 | 54 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | Labour majority |
2007 | 70 | 23 | 40 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | New ward boundaries.[13] |
2012 | 70 | 26 | 41 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | Labour majority |
2017 | 77 | 33 | 32 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | New ward boundaries.[14] Labour minority |
2022 | 77 | 36 | 32 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | SNP minority until August 2022, then Labour minority. |
The council is made up of 21 wards,[15][16] as follows:
Ward Number |
Ward Name | Location | Population (2017) |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Kilsyth | 11,832 | |
2 | Cumbernauld North | 19,670 | |
3 | Cumbernauld South | 16,206 | |
4 | Cumbernauld East | 16,608 | |
5 | Stepps, Chryston and Muirhead | 11,623 | |
6 | Gartcosh, Glenboig and Moodiesburn | 13,438 | |
7 | Coatbridge North | 15,320 | |
8 | Airdrie North | 20,062 | |
9 | Airdrie Central | 16,570 | |
10 | Coatbridge West | 14,213 | |
11 | Coatbridge South | 17,286 | |
12 | Airdrie South | 19,803 | |
13 | Fortissat | 15,706 | |
14 | Thorniewood | 13,916 | |
15 | Bellshill | 15,252 | |
16 | Mossend and Holytown | 12,799 | |
17 | Motherwell West | 14,129 | |
18 | Motherwell North | 18,667 | |
19 | Motherwell South East and Ravenscraig | 20,146 | |
20 | Murdostoun | 18,489 | |
21 | Wishaw | 18,225 | |
Total | 339,960 |