Strathkelvin

55°55′41″N 4°08′02″W / 55.928°N 4.134°W / 55.928; -4.134

Strathkelvin
District

History
 • Created16 May 1975
 • Abolished31 March 1996
 • Succeeded byEast Dunbartonshire
North Lanarkshire
GovernmentStrathkelvin District Council
 • HQKirkintilloch

Strathkelvin (Scottish Gaelic: Srath Chealbhainn) is the strath (valley) of the River Kelvin in west central Scotland, lying north-east of Glasgow. The name Strathkelvin was used between 1975 and 1996 for one of nineteen local government districts in the Strathclyde region.[1]

History

The district was created in 1975 under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, which established a two-tier structure of local government across mainland Scotland comprising upper-tier regions and lower-tier districts. Strathkelvin was one of nineteen districts created within the region of Strathclyde. The district covered parts of five former districts from the historic counties of Dunbartonshire, Lanarkshire, and Stirlingshire, all of which were abolished at the same time:[2]

The 1973 Act named the new district "Bishopbriggs and Kirkintilloch". The shadow council elected in 1974 to oversee the transition to the new system requested a change of name to "Strathkelvin", referring to the area's location in the valley or strath of the River Kelvin. The change of name was approved by the government before the new district came into being.[3]

The district was abolished in 1996 under the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 which replaced regions and districts with unitary council areas. Most of Strathkelvin went to the East Dunbartonshire council area, but the Chryston and Auchinloch area went instead to North Lanarkshire.[4]

The Strathkelvin name is still used in the judicial sheriffdom of "Glasgow and Strathkelvin".

Political control

The first election to the district council was held in 1974, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until it came into its powers on 16 May 1975. Political control of the council from 1975 was as follows:[5]

Party in control Years
No overall control 1975–1980
Labour 1980–1996

Leadership

Full council meetings were chaired by the provost. Political leadership was provided by the leader of the council. The leaders from 1984 until the council's abolition were:

Councillor Party From To
Charles Kennedy[6][7] Labour 1984 Jan 1989
Andrew Cochrane[7][8] Labour Jan 1989 May 1992
Bobby Coyle[8][9] Labour May 1992 May 1993
Brian Wallace[9][10][11] Labour Jun 1993 Sep 1994
Charles Kennedy[12] Labour Sep 1994 31 Mar 1996

The last leader of the council, Charles Kennedy, went on to be the first leader of the successor East Dunbartonshire Council.[12]

Elections

Elections were held as follows:[5]

Year Seats Labour Conservative SNP Liberal Democrats Independent / Other Notes
1974 14 6 5 2 0 1
1977 14 4 4 6 0 0
1980 14 10 4 0 0 0
1984 15 11 4 0 0 0
1988 15 12 2 0 1 0
1992 15 9 6 0 0 0

Premises

The council was initially based at several offices across the district. In 1985 it built a new headquarters at the junction of Lenzie Road and Civic Way in Kirkintilloch. The building was called Tom Johnston House, named after Tom Johnston (1881–1965), who was born in Kirkintilloch and had served as Secretary of State for Scotland during the Second World War.[13] After the council's abolition in 1996, Tom Johnston House served as the headquarters of the successor East Dunbartonshire Council until 2012, and has subsequently been demolished.[14]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Strathkelvin". Undiscovered Scotland. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  2. ^ "Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 1973 c. 65, retrieved 9 February 2023
  3. ^ "Historical information from 1973 onwards". Boundary-Line support. Ordnance Survey. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  4. ^ "Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 1994 c. 39, retrieved 17 February 2023
  5. ^ a b "Compositions Calculator". The Elections Centre. University of Exeter. Retrieved 21 May 2025. (Put "Strathkelvin" in search box to see specific results.)
  6. ^ "Beg or starve!". Sunday Post. Glasgow. 14 October 1984. p. 2. Retrieved 18 August 2025.
  7. ^ a b "No split". Kirkintilloch Herald. 18 January 1989. p. 15. Retrieved 18 August 2025.
  8. ^ a b Holland, Jim (13 May 1992). "Labour boss is ousted as Tories surge". Kirkintilloch Herald. pp. 18, 23. Retrieved 18 August 2025.
  9. ^ a b "Bobby is provost for third time". Kirkintilloch Herald. 9 June 1993. p. 3. Retrieved 18 August 2025.
  10. ^ "Keep moving". East Kilbride World. 12 August 1994. p. 1. Retrieved 18 August 2025.
  11. ^ "Strathkelvin councillor to step down". Glasgow World. 4 February 2017. Retrieved 18 August 2025.
  12. ^ a b "The changing face of Scotland". The Scotsman. Edinburgh. 27 March 1996. p. 5. Retrieved 18 August 2025.
  13. ^ "Strathkelvin District Council: Public Notice - Closure of Council Chambers, Kirkintilloch, and removal to new Civic Headquarters, Lenzie Road, Kirkintilloch". Airdrie and Coatbridge Advertiser. 19 July 1985. Retrieved 16 February 2023.
  14. ^ "Bulldozers move in to demolish landmark". Glasgow World. 3 November 2015. Retrieved 16 February 2023.
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