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Inverclyde Council

Inverclyde Council
Full council election every 4 years.
Coat of arms or logo
Coat of arms
Logo
Council logo
Type
Type
History
Preceded byInverclyde District Council
Leadership
Drew McKenzie,
Independent
since 5 May 2022[1]
Stephen McCabe,
Labour
since 6 March 2025
Stuart Jamieson
since May 2025[2]
Structure
Seats22 councillors
Political groups
Administration (9)
  Labour (9)
Other parties (13)
  SNP (6)
  Conservative (2)
  Independent (5)
Elections
Single transferable vote
Last election
5 May 2022
Next election
6 May 2027
Meeting place
Municipal Buildings
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

[edit]

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

[edit]

The council has been under no overall control since 2007, since when it has been led by Labour-led minority administrations.

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

[edit]

The role of provost is largely ceremonial in Inverclyde. They chair full council meetings and act as the council's civic figurehead. Political leadership is provided by the leader of the council. The first leader of Inverclyde Council, Harry Mulholland, had been the last leader of the old Inverclyde District Council.[8] The leaders since 1996 have been:

Councillor Party From To
Harry Mulholland[8][9][10] Labour 1 Apr 1996 May 1999
Robert Jackson[11][12] Labour 20 May 1999 May 2003
Alan Blair[13][14] Liberal Democrats 15 May 2003 May 2007
Stephen McCabe[15][16] Labour 24 May 2007 Feb 2011
Iain McKenzie[17][18] Labour 24 Feb 2011 Aug 2011
Stephen McCabe[18][19] Labour 18 Aug 2011 15 Nov 2024
Robert Moran[20][21][22] Labour 5 Dec 2024 6 Mar 2025
Stephen McCabe[23][22] Labour 6 Mar 2025

Composition

[edit]

Following the 2022 election and subsequent by-elections and changes of allegiance up to August 2025, the composition of the council was:[24]

Party Councillors
Labour 9
SNP 6
Conservative 2
Independent 5
Total 22

The next election is due in 2027.[24]

Premises

[edit]

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.[25] 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.[26]

Elections

[edit]
Main article: Inverclyde Council 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.[27] Labour majority
2003 20 6 0 0 13 1 Lib Dem majority
2007 20 9 5 1 4 1 New ward boundaries.[28]
2012 20 10 6 1 2 1
2017 22 8 7 2 1 4 New ward boundaries.[29]
2022 22 9 8 2 0 3

Wards

[edit]
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:[30]

Ward
number 		Ward name Location Seats Population
(2019)
1 Inverclyde East[a] 3 11,340[31]
2 Inverclyde East Central[b] 3 9,512[32]
3 Inverclyde Central[c] 3 11,926[33]
4 Inverclyde North[d] 4 13,759[34]
5 Inverclyde West[e] 3 10,411[35]
6 Inverclyde South West[f] 3 11,649[36]
7 Inverclyde South[g] 3 9,203[37]
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

[edit]
  1. ^ "Provost appointed".
  2. ^ "New chief executive appointed". Inverclyde Council. 3 April 2025. Retrieved 25 August 2025.
  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. ^ a b "Compositions Calculator". The Elections Centre. University of Exeter. Retrieved 21 May 2025. (Put "Inverclyde" in search box to see specific results.)
  8. ^ a b "Inverclyde Council". The Scotsman. Edinburgh. 27 March 1996. p. 5. Retrieved 25 August 2025.
  9. ^ Crainey, Tom (3 May 1999). "Brown hints at 800 new jobs for Scotland". The Scotsman. Edinburgh. p. 2. Retrieved 25 August 2025.
  10. ^ "Councillors mourn former provost". Greenock Telegraph. 24 June 2003. Retrieved 25 August 2025.
  11. ^ "Council minutes, 20 May 1999". Inverclyde Council. Retrieved 25 August 2025. At this time the leader's formal position was the convener of the policy and strategy committee.
  12. ^ "Jackson dies after heart attack". Greenock Telegraph. 13 May 2003. Retrieved 25 August 2025.
  13. ^ "Council minutes, 15 May 2003". Inverclyde Council. Retrieved 25 August 2025.
  14. ^ "Ex council leader steps down". Greenock Telegraph. 23 March 2012. Retrieved 25 August 2025.
  15. ^ "Council minutes, 24 May 2007". Inverclyde Council. Retrieved 25 August 2025.
  16. ^ "Inverclyde Council elects new leader". BBC News. 25 February 2011. Retrieved 25 August 2025.
  17. ^ "Council minutes, 24 February 2011" (PDF). Inverclyde Council. Retrieved 25 August 2025.
  18. ^ a b "Council minutes, 18 August 2011" (PDF). Inverclyde Council. Retrieved 25 August 2025.
  19. ^ Maguire, Erin (15 November 2024). "Inverclyde Council leader Stephen McCabe steps down". Greenock Telegraph. Retrieved 25 August 2025.
  20. ^ "Council minutes, 5 December 2024" (PDF). Inverclyde Council. Retrieved 25 August 2025.
  21. ^ "Former provost named new council leader". Inverclyde Council. 6 December 2024. Retrieved 25 August 2025.
  22. ^ a b "Council boss re-elected after assault charge dropped". BBC News. 6 March 2025. Retrieved 25 August 2025.
  23. ^ "Council minutes, 6 March 2025" (PDF). Inverclyde Council. Retrieved 25 August 2025.
  24. ^ a b "Inverclyde". Local Councils. Thorncliffe. Retrieved 25 August 2025.
  25. ^ Historic Environment Scotland. "Municipal Buildings, Clyde Square (Wallace Place / Dalrymple Street) (LB34122)". Retrieved 14 February 2023.
  26. ^ "Contact us". Inverclyde Council. Retrieved 14 February 2023.
  27. ^ "The Inverclyde (Electoral Arrangements) Order 1998", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 1998/3074, retrieved 14 February 2023
  28. ^ Scottish Parliament. The Inverclyde (Electoral Arrangements) Order 2006 as made, from legislation.gov.uk.
  29. ^ Scottish Parliament. The Inverclyde (Electoral Arrangements) Order 2016 as made, from legislation.gov.uk.
  30. ^ "United Kingdom: Scotland | Council Areas and Electoral Wards". City Population. 30 June 2019. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
  31. ^ Electoral Ward: Inverclyde East, Scottish Government Statistics
  32. ^ Electoral Ward: Inverclyde East Central, Scottish Government Statistics
  33. ^ Electoral Ward: Inverclyde Central, Scottish Government Statistics
  34. ^ Electoral Ward: Inverclyde North, Scottish Government Statistics
  35. ^ Electoral Ward: Inverclyde West, Scottish Government Statistics
  36. ^ Electoral Ward: Inverclyde South West, Scottish Government Statistics
  37. ^ Electoral Ward: Inverclyde South, Scottish Government Statistics