Inverclyde Council


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 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. 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.
In 2005, the council was criticised by the Accounts Commission for poor leadership and accountability. The chief executive resigned and various changes to the council's internal structures were made in response.
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, in contrast to the majority of wards in Scotland.

Political control

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:
Inverclyde District Council
'''Inverclyde Council'''

Leadership

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. The leaders since 1996 have been:

Composition

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

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:
YearSeatsLabourSNPConservativeLiberal DemocratsIndependent / OtherNotes
YearSeatsNotes
199520140150Labour majority
199920110180New ward boundaries. Labour majority
200320600131Lib Dem majority
20072095141New ward boundaries.
201220106121
20172287214New ward boundaries.
20222298203

Wards

Six multi-member wards 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:
Ward
number		Ward nameLocationSeatsPopulation
1Inverclyde East311,340
2Inverclyde East Central39,512
3Inverclyde Central311,926
4Inverclyde North413,759
5Inverclyde West310,411
6Inverclyde South West311,649
7Inverclyde South39,203
Total2277,800