Dundee City Council | |
|---|---|
| Full council election every 5 years | |
 Coat of arms | |
 Logo | |
| Type | |
| Type | |
| History | |
| Preceded by | City of Dundee District Council |
| Leadership | |
Greg Colgan since 9 October 2020 | |
| Structure | |
| Seats | 29 |
 | |
Political groups |
|
| Elections | |
| Single transferable vote | |
Last election | 5 May 2022 |
Next election | 6 May 2027 |
| Meeting place | |
 | |
| City Chambers, 21 City Square, Dundee, DD1 3BY | |
| Website | |
www | |
Dundee City Council is thelocal authority forDundee City, one of the 32council areas of Scotland. In its modern form it was created in 1996. Dundee was formerly governed by acorporation from when it was made aburgh in the late twelfth century until 1975. Between 1975 and 1996 the city was governed by City of Dundee District Council, a lower-tier authority within theTayside region.
The council has been underScottish National Party majority control since 2022. It has its official meeting place atDundee City Chambers and main offices atDundee House.
It is not known exactly when Dundee was made a burgh, but it is believed to have been sometime between 1181 and 1195. It was then governed by a corporation until 1975. It was elevated to the status of aroyal burgh in 1292.[1] The corporation was also known as the town council until 1889, when Dundee was awardedcity status, after which the corporation was also known as the city council.[2]
From the fifteenth century, the corporation was led by aprovost. In 1892 the post was given the additional honorific title oflord provost.[3]
The city was part ofAngus (then called Forfarshire) until 1894, but the functions affecting the city which operated at county level were relatively few, largely being limited tojudicial functions andlieutenancy. When elected county councils were created in 1890 under theLocal Government (Scotland) Act 1889, Dundee Corporation was deemed capable of running county-level local government functions, and so the city was excluded from the area administered by Forfarshire County Council.[4][5] In 1894, Dundee was made acounty of itself, removing it from Forfarshire for judicial and lieutenancy purposes as well.[6]
The burgh's boundaries were enlarged on numerous occasions, notably in 1831,[7] 1913 (when it absorbed the neighbouring burgh ofBroughty Ferry plus other areas),[8] 1922, 1932, 1939 and 1946.[9]
Local government across Scotland was reorganised in 1975 under theLocal Government (Scotland) Act 1973, which replaced the counties, burghs andlandward districts with a two-tier system ofregions and districts. One of the districts was called 'City of Dundee', which formed part of the Tayside region. The City of Dundee district covered a larger area than the pre-1975 city, taking in the burgh ofMonifieth and most of the landward district of Monifieth (covering a number of villages north of Dundee) from Angus,[a] and the parish ofLongforgan (which includedInvergowrie) fromPerthshire.[11]
Local government was reorganised again in 1996 under theLocal Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994, which abolished the regions and districts created in 1975 and established 32 single-tiercouncil areas across Scotland, one being the city of Dundee. The council area created in 1996 was smaller than the district which had existed between 1975 and 1996, being similar in extent to the pre-1975 city. Monifieth and the villages north of Dundee were transferred to Angus, and an area approximately matching the old parish of Longforgan was transferred toPerth and Kinross.[12] The 1994 Act named the new council area 'City of Dundee', but this was changed to 'Dundee City' by a council resolution on 29 June 1995, before the new council area came into force, allowing the new council to take the name 'Dundee City Council'.[13] In terms of area, it is the smallest of Scotland's council areas.
The council has been under Scottish National Party majority control since 2022.
The first election to the City of Dundee District Council was held in 1974, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing corporation 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:[14]
| Party in control | Years | |
|---|---|---|
| No overall control | 1975–1980 | |
| Labour | 1980–1996 | |
| Party in control | Years | |
|---|---|---|
| Labour | 1996–1999 | |
| No overall control | 1999–2012 | |
| SNP | 2012-2017 | |
| No overall control | 2017–2022 | |
| SNP | 2022–present | |
The role ofLord Provost of Dundee is largely ceremonial. They chair full council meetings and act as the council's civic figurehead. Political leadership is provided by theleader of the council. The first leader following the 1996 reforms,Kate Maclean, had been the leader of the old City of Dundee District Council since 1992.[15][16] The leaders of Dundee City Council since 1996 have been:
| Councillor | Party | From | To | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kate Maclean[15][16] | Labour | 1 Apr 1996 | 1999 | |
| Julie Sturrock[17] | Labour | 1999 | 2003 | |
| Jill Shimi[18][19] | Labour | 2003 | May 2007 | |
| Kevin Keenan[20] | Labour | 24 May 2007 | 30 Mar 2009 | |
| Ken Guild[21][22] | SNP | 30 Mar 2009 | May 2017 | |
| John Alexander[23][24] | SNP | May 2017 | 29 Aug 2024 | |
| Mark Flynn[25] | SNP | 2 Sep 2024 | present | |
Following the2022 election and subsequent changes of allegiance up to August 2025, the composition of the council was:[26]
| Party | 2022 results | Current | |
|---|---|---|---|
| SNP | 15 | 16 | |
| Labour | 9 | 8 | |
| Liberal Democrats | 4 | 4 | |
| Conservative | 1 | 1 | |
| Total | 29 | ||
The next election is due in 2027.[26]
Since the last boundary changes in 2007 the council has comprised 29councillors representing eightwards, with each ward electing three or four councillors under thesingle transferable vote system. Elections are held every five years.[27]
| Election | Result | SNP | Lab | Con | LD | Ind | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| City of Dundee District Council | ||||||||
| 1988 | Labour majority | 4 | 30 | 10 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1992 | Labour majority | 6 | 26 | 12 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Dundee City Council | ||||||||
| 1995 | Labour majority | 3 | 28 | 4 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 1999 | Labour minority | 10 | 14 | 4 | 0 | 1[b] | ||
| 2003 | SNP minority | 11 | 10 | 5 | 2 | 1 | ||
| 2007 | SNP minority | 13 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 1 | ||
| 2012 | SNP majority | 16 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||
| 2017 | SNP minority | 14 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 1 | ||
| 2022 | SNP majority | 15 | 9 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
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| Ward number | Ward name[28] | Location | Seats |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Strathmartine |  | 4 |
| 2 | Lochee |  | 4 |
| 3 | West End |  | 4 |
| 4 | Coldside |  | 4 |
| 5 | Maryfield |  | 3 |
| 6 | North East |  | 3 |
| 7 | East End |  | 3 |
| 8 | The Ferry |  | 4 |
| Total | 29 |
Council meetings are held atDundee City Chambers in City Square, built in 1933, although most meetings have been held remotely since theCOVID-19 pandemic started in 2020.[29] The council's main offices are atDundee House at 50 North Lindsay Street. The front part of the building was built as a factory in 1911 and was later used as a printing works forDC Thomson. A modern office extension was built behind the 1911 frontage, opening as the council's main offices in 2011 to replaceTayside House which the council had inherited from theTayside Regional Council on local government reorganisation in 1996.[30]
