Dundee City Council | |
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Full council election every 5 years | |
![]() Coat of arms | |
![]() Logo | |
Type | |
Type | |
History | |
Preceded by | City of Dundee District Council |
Leadership | |
Greg Colgan since 9 October 2020 | |
Structure | |
Seats | 29 |
Results of the 2022 election: ![]() | |
Political groups |
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Elections | |
Single transferable vote | |
Last election | 5 May 2022 |
Next election | 6 May 2027 |
Meeting place | |
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City Chambers, 21 City Square, Dundee, DD1 3BY | |
Website | |
www |
Dundee City Council is the local authority for Dundee City, one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. In its modern form it was created in 1996. Dundee was formerly governed by a corporation from when it was made a burgh in the late twelfth century until 1975. Between 1975 and 1996 the city was governed by City of Dundee District Council, a lower-tier authority within the Tayside region.
The council has been under Scottish National Party majority control since 2022. It has its official meeting place at Dundee City Chambers and main offices at Dundee House.
It is not known exactly when Dundee was made a burgh, but it is believed to have been sometime between 1181 and 1195. It was then governed by a corporation until 1975. It was elevated to the status of a royal burgh in 1292. [1] The corporation was also known as the town council until 1889, when Dundee was awarded city status, after which the corporation was also known as the city council. [2]
From the fifteenth century, the corporation was led by a provost. In 1892 the post was given the additional honorific title of lord provost. [3]
The city was part of Angus (then called Forfarshire) until 1894, but the functions affecting the city which operated at county level were relatively few, largely being limited to judicial functions and lieutenancy. When elected county councils were created in 1890 under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889, Dundee Corporation was deemed capable of running county-level local government functions, and so the city was excluded from the area administered by Forfarshire County Council. [4] [5] In 1894, Dundee was made a county of itself, removing it from Forfarshire for judicial and lieutenancy purposes as well. [6]
The burgh's boundaries were enlarged on numerous occasions, notably in 1831, [7] 1913 (when it absorbed the neighbouring burgh of Broughty Ferry plus other areas), [8] 1922, 1932, 1939 and 1946. [9]
Local government across Scotland was reorganised in 1975 under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, which replaced the counties, burghs and landward districts with a two-tier system of regions and districts. One of the districts was called 'City of Dundee', which formed part of the Tayside region. The City of Dundee district covered a larger area than the pre-1975 city, taking in the burgh of Monifieth and most of the landward district of Monifieth (covering a number of villages north of Dundee) from Angus, [lower-alpha 1] and the parish of Longforgan (which included Invergowrie) from Perthshire. [11]
Local government was reorganised again in 1996 under the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994, which abolished the regions and districts created in 1975 and established 32 single-tier council areas across Scotland, one being the city of Dundee. The council area created in 1996 was smaller than the district which had existed between 1975 and 1996, being similar in extent to the pre-1975 city. Monifieth and the villages north of Dundee were transferred to Angus, and an area approximately matching the old parish of Longforgan was transferred to Perth and Kinross. [12] The 1994 Act named the new council area 'City of Dundee', but this was changed to 'Dundee City' by a council resolution on 29 June 1995, before the new council area came into force, allowing the new council to take the name 'Dundee City Council'. [13] In terms of area, it is the smallest of Scotland's council areas.
The council has been under Scottish National Party majority control since 2022.
The first election to the City of Dundee 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: [14]
Party in control | Years | |
---|---|---|
No overall control | 1975–1980 | |
Labour | 1980–1996 |
Party in control | Years | |
---|---|---|
Labour | 1996–1999 | |
No overall control | 1999–2012 | |
SNP | 2012-2017 | |
No overall control | 2017–2022 | |
SNP | 2022–present |
The role of Lord Provost of Dundee is largely ceremonial. Political leadership is instead provided by the leader of the council. The leaders since 1992 have been: [15]
Councillor | Party | From | To | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Kate Maclean | Labour | 1992 | 1999 | |
Julie Sturrock [16] | Labour | 1999 | 15 May 2003 | |
Jill Shimi | Labour | 15 May 2003 | May 2007 | |
Kevin Keenan | Labour | 24 May 2007 | 30 Mar 2009 | |
Ken Guild [17] | SNP | 30 Mar 2009 | May 2012 | |
John Alexander | SNP | 22 May 2017 | August 2024 | |
Mark Flynn | SNP | August 2024 | ||
Following the 2022 election, the composition of the council was:
Party | Councillors | |
---|---|---|
SNP | 15 | |
Labour | 9 | |
Liberal Democrats | 4 | |
Conservative | 1 | |
Total | 29 |
The next election is due in 2027.
Since the last boundary changes in 2007 the council has comprised 29 councillors representing eight wards, with each ward electing three or four councillors under the single transferable vote system. Elections are held every five years. [18]
Election | Result | SNP | Lab | Con | LD | Ind | Grn | Oth |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
City of Dundee District Council | ||||||||
1988 | Labour majority | 4 | 30 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
1992 | Labour majority | 6 | 26 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Dundee City Council | ||||||||
1995 | Labour majority | 3 | 28 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
1999 | Labour minority | 10 | 14 | 4 | 0 | 1 [lower-alpha 2] | 0 | 0 |
2003 | SNP minority | 11 | 10 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
2007 | SNP minority | 13 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
2012 | SNP majority | 16 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
2017 | SNP minority | 14 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
2022 | SNP majority | 15 | 9 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Ward number | Ward name [19] | Location | Seats |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Strathmartine | ![]() | 4 |
2 | Lochee | ![]() | 4 |
3 | West End | ![]() | 4 |
4 | Coldside | ![]() | 4 |
5 | Maryfield | ![]() | 3 |
6 | North East | ![]() | 3 |
7 | East End | ![]() | 3 |
8 | The Ferry | ![]() | 4 |
Total | 29 | ||
Council meetings are held at Dundee City Chambers in City Square, built in 1933, although most meetings have been held remotely since the COVID-19 pandemic started in 2020. [20] The council's main offices are at Dundee House at 50 North Lindsay Street. The front part of the building was built as a factory in 1911 and was later used as a printing works for DC Thomson. A modern office extension was built behind the 1911 frontage, opening as the council's main offices in 2011 to replace Tayside House which the council had inherited from the Tayside Regional Council on local government reorganisation in 1996. [21]
Angus is one of the 32 local government council areas of Scotland, and a lieutenancy area. The council area borders Aberdeenshire, Dundee City and Perth and Kinross. Main industries include agriculture and fishing. Global pharmaceuticals company GSK has a significant presence in Montrose in the east of the county.
Perthshire, officially the County of Perth, is a historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore in the east, to the Pass of Drumochter in the north, Rannoch Moor and Ben Lui in the west, and Aberfoyle in the south; it borders the counties of Inverness-shire and Aberdeenshire to the north, Angus to the east, Fife, Kinross-shire, Clackmannanshire, Stirlingshire and Dunbartonshire to the south and Argyllshire to the west.
Perth and Kinross is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and a lieutenancy area. It is bordered by Highland and Aberdeenshire to the north, Angus, Dundee, and Fife to the east, Clackmannanshire to the south, and Stirling and Argyll and Bute to the west.
Falkirk is one of 32 unitary authority council areas of Scotland. It was formed on 1 April 1996 by way of the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 from the exact boundaries of Falkirk District, one of three parts of the Central region created in 1975, which was abolished at that time. Prior to the 1975 reorganisation, the majority of the council area was part of the historic county of Stirlingshire, and a small part, namely Bo'ness and Blackness, was part of the former county of West Lothian.
For local government purposes, Scotland is divided into 32 areas designated as "council areas", which are all governed by single-tier authorities designated as "councils". They have the option under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1997 of being known as a "comhairle" when opting for a Gaelic name; only Comhairle nan Eilean Siar has chosen this option, whereas the Highland Council has adopted its Gaelic form alongside its English equivalent, informally.
Dundee is a city in Scotland, a constituent country of the United Kingdom.
Kincardineshire or the County of Kincardine, also known as the Mearns, is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area on the coast of north-east Scotland. It is bounded by Aberdeenshire on the north, and by Angus on the south-west.
Tayside was one of the nine regions used for local government in Scotland from 16 May 1975 to 31 March 1996. The region was named after the River Tay.
Ettrick and Lauderdale was one of four local government districts in the Borders region of Scotland as well as a lieutenancy area from 1975 to 1996.
The Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that created the current local government structure of 32 unitary authorities covering the whole of Scotland.
Strathkelvin is the strath (valley) of the River Kelvin in west central Scotland, lying north-east of Glasgow. The name Strathkelvin was used between 1975 and 1996 for one of nineteen local government districts in the Strathclyde region.
Renfrew District was, between 1975 and 1996, one of nineteen local government districts in the Strathclyde region of Scotland.
Monifieth is a town and former police burgh in the council area of Angus, Scotland. It is situated on the north bank of the Firth of Tay on the east coast. In 2016, the population of Monifieth was estimated at 8,110, making it the fifth largest town in Angus.
The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1929 reorganised local government in Scotland from 1930, introducing joint county councils, large and small burghs and district councils. The Act also abolished the Scottish poor law system with institutions passing to the local authorities.
Perth and Kinross Council is the local authority for Perth and Kinross, one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. The council has been under no overall control since 1999. It is based in Perth.
Politics in the Dundee Citycouncil area are evident in the deliberations and decisions of Dundee City Council, in elections to the council, and in elections to the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood) and the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (Westminster).
Local government areas covering the whole of Scotland were first defined by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889. As currently defined, they are a result, for the most part, of the Local Government etc (Scotland) Act 1994.
The City of Edinburgh Council is the local government authority covering the City of Edinburgh council area. Almost half of the council area is the built-up area of Edinburgh, capital of Scotland. With a population of 514,990 in mid-2019, it is the second most populous local authority area in Scotland.