West Dunbartonshire
Template:Short description Template:For Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use British English Template:Infobox settlement
West Dunbartonshire (Template:Langx; Template:Langx, Template:IPA) is one of the 32 local government council areas of Scotland. The area lies to the north-west of the Glasgow City council area and contains many of Glasgow's commuter towns and villages. West Dunbartonshire also borders Argyll and Bute, East Dunbartonshire, Renfrewshire and Stirling.
The council area was formed in 1996 from the former Clydebank district and the eastern part of Dumbarton district, which had both been part of Strathclyde Region.
West Dunbartonshire has three main urban areas: Clydebank, Dumbarton and the Vale of Leven. The area also includes the intervening rural areas, including the Kilpatrick Hills and the south-eastern bank of Loch Lomond. The council is based at 16 Church Street in Dumbarton, although Clydebank is the largest town.
History
West Dunbartonshire was created in 1996 under the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994, which abolished the regions and districts which had been created in 1975, replacing them with unitary council areas. West Dunbartonshire covered the area of the abolished Clydebank district and the eastern part of Dumbarton district. In a referendum in 1994 the largely rural western part of the old Dumbarton district, including the town of Helensburgh, had voted to join Argyll and Bute rather than stay with Dumbarton.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite legislation UK</ref>
The 1994 act originally named the new district "Dumbarton and Clydebank", but the shadow authority elected in 1995 requested a change of name to "West Dunbartonshire", which was agreed by the government before the new council area came into force.<ref>Template:Cite legislation UK</ref><ref>Template:Cite web (See downloadable boundary-legislation-changes-from-1973.xls spreadsheet.)</ref>
Demography
Languages
The 2022 Scottish Census reported that out of 86,078 residents aged three and over, 28,045 (32.6%) considered themselves able to speak or read the Scots language. <ref>[1]</ref>
The 2022 Scottish Census reported that out of 86,068 residents aged three and over, 835 (1%) considered themselves able to speak or read Gaelic. <ref>[https://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/webapi/opentable?id=019a2022-ecdd-77ea-96ad-569f0c5b3786</ref>
Communities
The area is divided into 17 community council areas, 10 of which have community councils as at 2023 (being those with asterisks in the list below):<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Template:Div col
- Alexandria*
- Balloch and Haldane
- Bonhill and Dalmonach*
- Bowling and Milton*
- Clydebank East*
- Dalmuir and Mountblow
- Dumbarton East and Central*
- Dumbarton North
- Dumbarton West
- Duntocher and Hardgate
- Faifley*
- Kilmaronock*
- Linnvale and Drumry
- Old Kilpatrick*
- Parkhall, North Kilbowie and Central*
- Renton
- Silverton and Overtoun*
Governance
The council comprises 22 councillors elected from 6 wards.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Political control
At the 2022 election, Labour won a majority of the seats on the council. After by-elections and changes of allegiance, Labour lost its majority in August 2024 and resigned the leadership of the council.<ref name=Elliards/> After the other parties and independent councillors were unable to agree an alternative administration, Labour was reinstated to the council's leadership positions in September 2024, running the council as a minority administration.<ref name=Paterson>Template:Cite news</ref>
The first election 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 West Dunbartonshire Council since 1996 has been as follows:<ref name=compositions>Template:Cite web (Put "West Dunbartonshire" in search box to see specific results.)</ref>
| Party in control | Years | |
|---|---|---|
| Template:Party name with colour | 1996–2007 | |
| Template:Party name with colour | 2007–2012 | |
| Template:Party name with colour | 2012–2017 | |
| Template:Party name with colour | 2017–2022 | |
| Template:Party name with colour | 2022–2024 | |
| Template:Party name with colour<ref name=Elliards>Template:Cite news</ref> | 2024-present | |
Leadership
The role of provost is largely ceremonial in West Dunbartonshire. They chair full council meetings and act as the council's civic figurehead. Political leadership is provided by the leader of the council. The leaders since 1996 have been:
| Councillor | Party | From | To | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mary Campbell<ref name=TS27Mar1996>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=25Jun1997/> | Template:Party name with colour | 1 Apr 1996 | 4 Jun 1997 | |
| Andy White<ref name=25Jun1997>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=20Dec2006/> | Template:Party name with colour | 4 Jun 1997 | 20 Dec 2006 | |
| Martin Rooney<ref name=20Dec2006>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=CP14Mar2007/> | Template:Party name with colour | 20 Dec 2006 | 12 Mar 2007 | |
| Denis Agnew<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=CP14Mar2007>Template:Cite news</ref> | Template:Party name with colour | 12 Mar 2007 | May 2007 | |
| Iain Robertson<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> | Template:Party name with colour | 16 May 2007 | 26 May 2010 | |
| Ronnie McColl<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> | Template:Party name with colour | 26 May 2010 | May 2012 | |
| Martin Rooney<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> | Template:Party name with colour | 16 May 2012 | May 2017 | |
| Jonathan McColl<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> | Template:Party name with colour | 17 May 2017 | May 2022 | |
| Martin Rooney<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> | Template:Party name with colour | 18 May 2022 | 28 Aug 2024 | |
| Martin Rooney<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=Paterson/> | Template:Party name with colour | 25 Sep 2024 | ||
Composition
Following the 2022 election and subsequent by-elections and changes of allegiance up to August 2024, the composition of the council was:<ref name=Thorncliffe>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
| Party | Councillors | |
|---|---|---|
| Template:Party name with colour | 10 | |
| Template:Party name with colour | 7 | |
| Template:Party name with colour | 4 | |
| Template:Party name with colour | 1 | |
| Total | 22 | |
The next election is due in 2027.<ref name=Thorncliffe/>
Premises
The council is based at the former Burgh Hall at 16 Church Street in Dumbarton. It also has an area office in the main shopping centre in Clydebank.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
When the council was created in 1996, it inherited several buildings from its predecessors, including Municipal Buildings and Crosslet House from Dumbarton District Council, Clydebank Town Hall and the nearby Council Offices on Rosebery Place from Clydebank District Council, and the County Buildings, Dumbarton from Strathclyde Regional Council.
The council gradually consolidated its offices, with Crosslet House being demolished in 2015,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> the Rosebery Place offices being demolished in 2017,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and the County Buildings being demolished in 2019.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In 2018 the council consolidated most of its offices to Burgh Hall, which had been vacant for some years. The front part of the 1866 building was retained and a modern office complex built to the rear.<ref name=realm>Template:Cite news</ref> The Municipal Buildings in Dumbarton are still used by the council as a register office, whilst Clydebank Town Hall is now primarily an events venue.
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:<ref name=compositions/>
| Year | Seats | Labour | SNP | Conservative | Independent / Other | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| style="background-color: Template:Party color; width: 3px;" | | style="background-color: Template:Party color; width: 3px;" | | style="background-color: Template:Party color; width: 3px;" | | style="background-color: Template:Party color; width: 3px;" | | |||
| 1995 | 22 | 14 | 7 | 0 | 1 | |
| 1999 | 22 | 14 | 7 | 0 | 1 | New ward boundaries.<ref>Template:Cite legislation UK</ref> |
| 2003 | 22 | 17 | 3 | 0 | 2Template:Efn | |
| 2007 | 22 | 10 | 9 | 0 | 3Template:Efn | New ward boundaries.<ref>Template:Cite legislation Scotland</ref> |
| 2012 | 22 | 12 | 6 | 0 | 4Template:Efn | |
| 2017 | 22 | 8 | 10 | 2 | 2Template:Efn | New ward boundaries.<ref>Template:Cite legislation Scotland</ref> |
| 2022 | 22 | 12 | 9 | 0 | 1Template:Efn | <ref>Template:Cite web</ref> |
| style="background-color: Template:Party color; width: 3px;" | | style="background-color: Template:Party color; width: 3px;" | | style="background-color: Template:Party color; width: 3px;" | | style="background-color: Template:Party color; width: 3px;" | |
Wards
.svg){kind=link}
Six multi-member wards were created for the 2007 election, replacing 22 single-member wards which had been in place since the creation of the council in 1995:<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
| Ward number | Ward | Location | Largest settlement | Additional settlements | Seats |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lomond | File:Lomond.svg | Balloch | Gartocharn, Jamestown, Levenvale, Mill of Haldane | 3 |
| 2 | Leven | File:Leven.svg | Alexandria | Bonhill, Dalmonach, Renton, Dumbarton (northern parts) | 4 |
| 3 | Dumbarton | File:Dumbarton.svg | Dumbarton | Milton, Bowling | 4 |
| 4 | Kilpatrick | File:Kilpatrick.svg | Duntocher | Faifley, Hardgate | 3 |
| 5 | Clydebank Central | File:Clydebank Central.svg | Clydebank | 4 | |
| 6 | Clydebank Waterfront | File:Clydebank Waterfront.svg | Clydebank | Old Kilpatrick | 4 |
Wider politics
Independence referendum
On 18 September 2014, West Dunbartonshire was one of the four council areas which had a majority "Yes" vote in the Scottish Independence Referendum at 54% with an 87.9% turnout rate.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Settlements
Largest settlements by population:
Main sights
- Erskine Bridge
- Dumbarton Castle
- Inchmurrin, the largest freshwater island in the British Isles
- Kilpatrick Hills
- Loch Lomond
- Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park
- Overtoun Bridge
- River Leven
References
External links
Template:Navbox Template:Portal bar Template:Authority control