Inverclyde Council

Inverclyde Council
Full council election every 4 years.
Coat of arms
Council logo
Type
Type	Unitary authority
History
Preceded by	Inverclyde District Council
Leadership
Provost	Drew McKenzie, Independent since 5 May 2022 [1]
Leader	Stephen McCabe, Labour since 18 August 2011
Chief Executive	Louise Long since September 2021 [2]
Structure
Seats	22 councillors
Political groups	Administration (9)   Labour (9) Other parties (13)   SNP (7)   Independent (4)   Conservative (2)
Elections
Voting system	Single transferable vote
Last election	5 May 2022
Next election	6 May 2027
Meeting place
Municipal Buildings, Clyde Square, Greenock, PA15 1LX
Website
www.inverclyde.gov.uk

Inverclyde Council is one of the 32 local authorities of Scotland, covering the Inverclyde council area. In its current form the council was created in 1996, replacing the previous Inverclyde District Council which existed from 1975 to 1996.

The council has been under no overall control since 2007, being led by a Labour minority administration. The council is based at the Municipal Buildings in Greenock, the area's largest town.

History

Prior to 1975 the area was the western part of the historic county of Renfrewshire. The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 replaced Scotland's counties, burghs and districts with a two-tier system comprising upper-tier regions and lower-tier districts. Inverclyde was created as one of nineteen districts within the Strathclyde region. Further reforms in 1996 under the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 saw the Strathclyde Regional Council abolished and Inverclyde become a council area, taking over the former regional council's roles in the area. ^[3]

In 2005, the council was criticised by the Accounts Commission for poor leadership and accountability. ^[4] The chief executive resigned and various changes to the council's internal structures were made in response. ^{[5] [6]}

Until 2007, Inverclyde was the last authority in the United Kingdom not to have named its wards; whilst the local authority reserved its right to name wards, it did not to supply any names to the Local Government Boundary Commission. This was rectified in the 2006 review leading to the new wards used for the 2007 election, although the six multi-member wards created then used only vague geographical descriptions ('Inverclyde North', 'Inverclyde East', 'Inverclyde South West' etc.), in contrast to the majority of wards in Scotland.

Political control

The first election to Inverclyde 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]

Inverclyde District Council

Party in control		Years
	Labour	1975–1977
	Liberal	1977–1980
	Labour	1980–1996

Inverclyde Council

Party in control		Years
	Labour	1996–2000
	No overall control	2000–2003
	Liberal Democrats	2003–2007
	No overall control	2007–

Leadership

The leaders of the council since 1996 have been: ^[8]

Councillor	Party		From	To
Harry Mulholland		Labour	1 Apr 1996	6 May 1999
Robert Jackson		Labour	20 May 1999	1 May 2003
Alan Blair		Liberal Democrats	15 May 2003	3 May 2007
Stephen McCabe		Labour	24 May 2007	Feb 2011
Iain McKenzie		Labour	24 Feb 2011	Aug 2011
Stephen McCabe		Labour	18 Aug 2011

Composition

Following the 2022 election and a subsequent change of allegiance in April 2024, the composition of the council was: ^[9]

Party		Councillors
	Labour	9
	SNP	7
	Independent	4
	Conservative	2
Total		22

The next election is due in 2027.

Premises

The council is based at the Municipal Buildings on Clyde Square in Greenock. The main building was built in 1886 for the former Greenock Town Council, although the complex also incorporates the earlier Greenock Town Hall of 1765. ^[10] The buildings passed to Inverclyde District Council at the local government reorganisation in 1975, and then to Inverclyde Council when local government was reorganised again in 1996. ^[11]

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: ^[7]

Year	Seats	Labour	SNP	Conservative	Liberal Democrats	Independent / Other	Notes
1995	20	14	0	1	5	0	Labour majority
1999	20	11	0	1	8	0	New ward boundaries. [12] Labour majority
2003	20	6	0	0	13	1	Lib Dem majority
2007	20	9	5	1	4	1	New ward boundaries. [13]
2012	20	10	6	1	2	1
2017	22	8	7	2	1	4	New ward boundaries. [14]
2022	22	9	8	2	0	3

Wards

Map of the council's ward boundaries as of 2017

Six multi-member wards (20 seats) were created for the 2007 election, replacing 20 single-member wards which had been in place since the 1980s. The representation was increased to 22 councillors across 7 seats for the 2017 election: ^[15]

Ward number	Ward name	Location	Seats	Population (2019)
1	Inverclyde East [a]		3	11,340 [16]
2	Inverclyde East Central [b]		3	9,512 [17]
3	Inverclyde Central [c]		3	11,926 [18]
4	Inverclyde North [d]		4	13,759 [19]
5	Inverclyde West [e]		3	10,411 [20]
6	Inverclyde South West [f]		3	11,649 [21]
7	Inverclyde South [g]		3	9,203 [22]
Total			22	77,800

1. Inverclyde East is primarily Kilmacolm plus eastern Port Glasgow (Park Farm etc) and an extensive rural hinterland at Strathgryffe.
2. Inverclyde East Central covers the majority of Port Glasgow plus Gibshill.
3. Inverclyde Central covers eastern Greenock and a rural hinterland at Gryffe Reservoirs; created for the 2017 election.
4. Inverclyde North covers northern and central Greenock.
5. Inverclyde West covers Gourock.
6. Inverclyde South West is primarily Inverkip and Wemyss Bay plus south-western Greenock (Larkfield etc) and a rural hinterland at Loch Thom.
7. Inverclyde South covers southern Greenock.

References

1. "Provost appointed".
2. "Louise is new chief". Inverclyde Council. Retrieved 14 February 2023.
3. "Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994", legislation.gov.uk , The National Archives, 1994 c. 39, retrieved 14 February 2023
4. "Council urged to tackle failings". BBC News. 2 June 2005. Retrieved 8 July 2006.
5. "Council given deadline to improve". BBC News. 30 November 2005. Retrieved 8 July 2006.
6. "Inverclyde starts big changes at the top". The Herald. 23 June 2006. Archived from the original on 1 July 2013. Retrieved 8 July 2006.
7. "Compositions calculator". The Elections Centre. Retrieved 14 February 2023.
8. "Council minutes". Inverclyde Council. Retrieved 14 February 2023.
9. "Inverclyde". Local Councils. Thorncliffe. Retrieved 30 July 2024.
10. Historic Environment Scotland. "Municipal Buildings, Clyde Square (Wallace Place / Dalrymple Street) (LB34122)" . Retrieved 14 February 2023.
11. "Contact us". Inverclyde Council. Retrieved 14 February 2023.
12. "The Inverclyde (Electoral Arrangements) Order 1998", legislation.gov.uk , The National Archives, SI 1998/3074, retrieved 14 February 2023
13. Scottish Parliament. The Inverclyde (Electoral Arrangements) Order 2006 as made, from legislation.gov.uk .
14. Scottish Parliament. The Inverclyde (Electoral Arrangements) Order 2016 as made, from legislation.gov.uk .
15. "United Kingdom: Scotland | Council Areas and Electoral Wards". City Population. 30 June 2019. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
16. Electoral Ward: Inverclyde East, Scottish Government Statistics
17. Electoral Ward: Inverclyde East Central, Scottish Government Statistics
18. Electoral Ward: Inverclyde Central, Scottish Government Statistics
19. Electoral Ward: Inverclyde North, Scottish Government Statistics
20. Electoral Ward: Inverclyde West, Scottish Government Statistics
21. Electoral Ward: Inverclyde South West, Scottish Government Statistics
22. Electoral Ward: Inverclyde South, Scottish Government Statistics