East Dunbartonshire


East Dunbartonshire is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders Glasgow City Council Area to the south, North Lanarkshire to the east, Stirling to the north, and West Dunbartonshire to the west. East Dunbartonshire contains many of the suburbs in the north of Greater Glasgow, including Bearsden, Milngavie, Bishopbriggs, Kirkintilloch, Lenzie, Twechar, Milton of Campsie, Balmore, and Torrance, as well as some other of Glasgow's commuter towns and villages. The council area covers parts of the historic counties of Dunbartonshire, Lanarkshire, and Stirlingshire.
The council area was formed in 1996, as a result of the Local Government etc. Act 1994, from the former Bearsden and Milngavie districts and most of the former Strathkelvin district, which had been part of the Strathclyde region.

History

East Dunbartonshire was created in 1996 under the Local Government etc. Act 1994, which abolished the regions and districts which had been created in 1975, replacing them with unitary council areas. East Dunbartonshire covered the area of the abolished Bearsden and Milngavie and Strathkelvin districts. Both former districts had been in the Strathclyde region.
Both of East Dunbartonshire's predecessor districts had been created in 1975 under the Local Government Act 1973. The Bearsden and Milngavie district had been created covering Milngavie, Bearsden and adjoining areas from Dunbartonshire. The Strathkelvin district had been created covering Kirkintilloch and adjoining areas from Dunbartonshire, Bishopbriggs and adjoining areas from Lanarkshire, and the parishes of Baldernock and Campsie from Stirlingshire.

Demographics

East Dunbartonshire council area has low levels of deprivation, with relatively low unemployment and low levels of crime. The population is both declining and ageing.
In a 2007 Reader's Digest poll, East Dunbartonshire was voted the best place in Britain to raise a family. The area has generally performed well in the Halifax Quality of Life survey; in 2010 it was ranked third in Scotland, and it was the only Scottish area in the British Top 20 in 2008. A Legatum Prosperity Index published by the Legatum Institute in October 2016 showed East Dunbartonshire as the most prosperous council area in Scotland and the ninth most prosperous in the United Kingdom.

Languages

The 2022 Scottish Census reported that out of 106,057 residents aged three and over, 25,685 considered themselves able to speak or read the Scots language.
The 2022 Scottish Census reported that out of 106,061 residents aged three and over, 1,274 considered themselves able to speak or read Gaelic.

Communities

The area is divided into thirteen community council areas, twelve of which have community councils as at 2023 :
  • Baldernock*
  • Bearsden East*
  • Bearsden North*
  • Bearsden West*
  • Bishopbriggs*
  • Campsie*
  • Kirkintilloch*
  • Lenzie*
  • Milngavie*
  • Milton of Campsie*
  • Torrance*
  • Twechar
  • Waterside*

    Governance

Political control

The council has been under no overall control since 1999. Following the 2022 election a Scottish National Party minority administration formed to run the council.
The first election to East Dunbartonshire Council 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 the council since 1996 has been as follows:

Leadership

The role of provost is largely ceremonial in East 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 first leader, Charles Kennedy, had been the last leader of the old Strathkelvin District Council. The leaders of East Dunbartonshire Council 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

Since 2012 the council has been based at 12 Strathkelvin Place in Kirkintilloch, which forms part of the Southbank Marina development adjoining the Forth and Clyde Canal. Prior to 2012 the council was based at Tom Johnston House at the junction of Lenzie Road and Civic Way in Kirkintilloch. Tom Johnston House had been built in 1985 as the headquarters for the old Strathkelvin District Council and was named after Tom Johnston, who was born in Kirkintilloch and had served as Secretary of State for Scotland during the Second World War. Tom Johnston House was demolished in 2015. The new council chamber at Strathkelvin Place is called Tom Johnston Chamber.

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:
YearSeatsSNPLiberal DemocratsLabourConservativeIndependent / OtherNotes
YearSeatsNotes
199526091520
1999241101030New ward boundaries.
200324012930
20072483652New ward boundaries.
20122483823
20172276261Source. New ward boundaries.
20222286431Source.

Wards

Since 2007, the council has been elected using multi-member wards, each returning three councillors using a single transferable vote system of proportional representation. Initially this retained the number of councillors at 24 following on from the same number of single-member wards in previous elections, divided equally across eight wards. However, a national boundary and population review prior to the 2017 Scottish local elections led to the number of East Dunbartonshire wards being reduced to seven and the number of councillors being reduced to 22. These current wards are:
#Ward NameLocationSeatsPopulation
1Milngavie313,572
2Bearsden North314,943
3Bearsden South313,318
4Bishopbriggs North and Campsie419,323
5Bishopbriggs South315,868
6Kirkintilloch East and North and Twechar318,251
7Lenzie and Kirkintilloch South313,475

Settlements

Largest settlements by population:
SettlementPopulation
Bearsden
Bishopbriggs
Kirkintilloch
Milngavie
Lenzie
Lennoxtown
Milton of Campsie
Torrance
Twechar

Places of interest

There are 8 secondary schools and 33 primary schools in the area. The secondary schools are:
  • Bearsden Academy, Bearsden
  • Bishopbriggs Academy, Bishopbriggs
  • Boclair Academy, Bearsden
  • Douglas Academy, Milngavie
  • Kirkintilloch High School, Kirkintilloch
  • Lenzie Academy, Lenzie
  • St Ninian's High School, Kirkintilloch
  • Turnbull High School, Bishopbriggs