Clackmannanshire
Clackmannanshire, or the County of Clackmannan, is a historic county, council area, registration county and lieutenancy area in Scotland, bordering the council areas of Stirling, Fife, and Perth and Kinross. To the south, it is separated from Falkirk by the Firth of Forth. In terms of historic counties it borders Perthshire, Stirlingshire and Fife.
The name consists of elements from three languages. The first element is from meaning "Stone". Mannan is a derivative of the Brythonic name of the Manaw, the Iron Age tribe who inhabited the area. The final element is the English word shire. As Britain's smallest historic county, it is often nicknamed "The Wee County". When written, Clackmannanshire is commonly abbreviated to '''Clacks.'''
History
Clackmannanshire takes its name from the original county town of Clackmannan, which is named after a stone anciently associated with the pre-Christian deity Manau or Mannan. The stone now rests on a larger stone beside the surviving tower of Clackmannan Tolbooth and the Mercat Cross at the top of Main street, Clackmannan.Clackmannanshire became known for the weaving mills powered by the Hillfoots burns. Other industries included brewing, glass manufacture, mining and ship building. Now capitalising on its central position and transport links, Clackmannanshire attracts service industries and tourism.
The motto of Clackmannanshire is "Look Aboot Ye". In 2007 a re-branding exercise led to the area adopting the slogan "More Than You Imagine".
Administrative history
Clackmannanshire's origins as a shire are unclear; it had certainly become a shire by 1305, with some suggestion that it may have already existed in the early 1200s.File:Main Street, Clackmannan.JPG|thumb|left|Clackmannan, the historic county town. The tower is the surviving part of Clackmannan Tolbooth.
The county town was originally Clackmannan, where the tolbooth was built in 1592 to serve as the sheriff court for the county. Commissioners of Supply were established in 1667 to act as the main administrative body for the shire. In 1822 the sheriff court and meeting place of the commissioners was moved from Clackmannan to Alloa, which had grown to become the more significant town. County Buildings was built in 1865 at the corner of Mar Street and Drysdale Street in Alloa to serve as the courthouse and meeting place for the commissioners.
File:County Buildings, Alloa.jpg|thumb|County Buildings, Mar Street, Alloa
Elected county councils were established in 1890 under the Local Government Act 1889, taking most of the functions of the commissioners. Clackmannanshire County Council held its first meeting on 22 May 1890 at the County Buildings in Alloa, which would serve as the county council's headquarters until its abolition in 1975.
The 1889 act also led to a review of boundaries, with several exclaves being transferred to a county they actually bordered, and parishes which straddled more than one county being adjusted such that each parish was entirely in a single county. These changes saw Clackmannanshire cede Cambuskenneth to Stirlingshire, whilst it gained Alva from Stirlingshire and parts of Alloa parish which had been in Perthshire.
Clackmannanshire County Council was abolished in 1975 under the Local Government Act 1973, which replaced Scotland's counties, burghs and landward districts with a two-tier structure of upper-tier regions and lower-tier districts. Clackmannanshire became part of the Central region and a Clackmannan district was created covering the pre-1975 county plus the parish of Muckhart, which had been in Perthshire prior to 1975.
Further local government reforms in 1996 under the Local Government etc. Act 1994 saw the regions and districts created in 1975 abolished and replaced with council areas providing all local government services. Clackmannan district became one of the new council areas, taking on the functions of the abolished Central Regional Council. The 1994 act originally named the new council area "Clackmannan", but the shadow authority elected in 1995 requested a change of name to "Clackmannanshire", which was agreed by the government before the new council area came into force on 1 April 1996.
Governance
Political control
The council has been under no overall control since 2007. It has been run by a Scottish National Party minority administration since 2017.The first election to Clackmannan 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 change to council areas which came into force on 1 April 1996. Political control since 1975 has been as follows:
Leadership
The role of convener is largely ceremonial in Clackmannanshire. 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:Composition
Following the 2022 election and a subsequent change of allegiance in December 2022, the composition of the council was:The next election is due in 2027.
Premises
Since 2014, the council has been based at Kilncraigs, on Greenside Street in Alloa.After the 1975 local government reorganisation, the old meeting place of Clackmannanshire County Council at the County Buildings reverted to being solely a courthouse, and the old county council's offices in converted houses along nearby Marshill passed to the Central Regional Council. Clackmannan District Council acquired a modern office building called The Whins on Whins Road to serve as its headquarters, and also took over the former Alloa Town Council building at Greenfield House on Mar Place.
Greenfield House had been built as a house in 1894 and had been bought by the old town council in 1952, with its gardens becoming a public park. In 1987 Greenfield House was extended, allowing it to become the district council's headquarters, with The Whins subsequently being turned into the Alloa Business Centre. Greenfield House then served as the council's headquarters until 2014.
In 2014 the council moved to Kilncraigs, which had been built in 1904 as the offices, factory and warehouse of John Paton, Son and Co, manufacturers of knitting yarn. After the factory closed the whole building had been converted to offices in 2004.
Elections
Since 2007 elections have been held every five years under the single transferable vote system, introduced by the Local Governance Act 2004. Election results since 1995 have been as follows:| Year | Seats | SNP | Labour | Conservative | Green | Liberal Democrats | Independent / Other | Notes |
| Year | Seats | Notes | ||||||
| 1995 | 12 | 3 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 1999 | 18 | 9 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | New ward boundaries. |
| 2003 | 18 | 6 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| 2007 | 18 | 7 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | New ward boundaries. |
| 2012 | 18 | 8 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| 2017 | 18 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | New ward boundaries. |
| 2022 | 18 | 9 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Wards
Since 2007, the council area has been divided into five multi-member wards:| Ward number | Location | Ward name | Settlements | Seats | Population |
| 1 | Clackmannanshire West | Menstrie, Glenochil, Tullibody, Cambus | 4 | 12,606 | |
| 2 | Clackmannanshire North | Alva, Tillicoultry, Coalsnaughton | 4 | 10,731 | |
| 3 | Clackmannanshire Central | Sauchie, Fishcross, Alloa | 3 | 7,936 | |
| 4 | Clackmannanshire South | Alloa | 4 | 11,618 | |
| 5 | Clackmannanshire East | Clackmannan, Dollar, Muckhart, Kennet, Forestmill, Solsgirth, Alloa | 3 | 8,649 | |
| Total | 18 | 51,540 |
Communities
The council area is divided into nine community council areas, eight of which have community councils as at 2023, being those marked with an asterisk below.- Alloa*
- Alva*
- Clackmannan*
- Dollar*
- Menstrie*
- Muckhart*
- Sauchie and Fishcross*
- Tillicoultry, Coalsnaughton and Devonside*
- Tullibody, Cambus, and Glenochil
Town twinning
Coat of arms
Clackmannanshire's coat of arms is blazoned:Or, a saltire gules; upon a chief vert, between two gauntlets proper, a pale argent charged with a pallet sable.
The red saltire on gold is taken from the arms of the Clan Bruce. According to legend, Robert Bruce mislaid his gauntlets while visiting the county, and upon asking where he could find them was told to "look aboot ye". The green chief represents the county's agriculture, while the black and white pale is taken from the arms of the Clan Erskine whose chief the Earl of Mar lives at Alloa Tower. Sir Thomas Bruce 1st Baron of Clackmannan was a member of the House of Bruce and received lands in Clackmannan from his cousin Robert II.
Wider politics
In the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, Clackmannanshire was the first council area to declare its result. Though some predictions had seen the area as being favourable towards the "Yes" side, the "No" vote took 53.8% of the area's vote. This was seen as an early sign that Scotland would vote against independence.In the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum, Clackmannanshire voted by 58% to remain.