East Dunbartonshire
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 Coat of arms | |
 East Dunbartonshire shown withinScotland | |
| Coordinates:55°56′N4°13′W / 55.933°N 4.217°W /55.933; -4.217 | |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Country | Scotland |
| Lieutenancy area | Dunbartonshire |
| Unitary authority | 1 April 1996 |
| Administrative HQ | Kirkintilloch |
| Government | |
| • Type | Council |
| • Body | East Dunbartonshire Council |
| • Control | No overall control |
| • MPs | 2 MPs |
| • MSPs | 2 MSPs |
| Area | |
• Total | 67 sq mi (174 km2) |
| • Rank | 27th |
| Population (2024)[2] | |
• Total | 109,970 |
| • Rank | 21st |
| • Density | 1,600/sq mi (630/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC+0 (GMT) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+1 (BST) |
| ISO 3166 code | GB-EDU |
| GSS code | S12000045 |
| Website | eastdunbarton |
East Dunbartonshire (Scots:Aest Dunbartanshire;Scottish Gaelic:Siorrachd Dhùn Bhreatann an Ear,pronounced[ˈʃirˠəxkɣumˈpɾʲɛht̪ən̪ˠəɲˈɛɾ]) is one of the 32council areas of Scotland. It bordersGlasgow City Council Area to the south,North Lanarkshire to the east,Stirling to the north, andWest Dunbartonshire to the west. East Dunbartonshire contains many of the suburbs in the north ofGreater Glasgow, includingBearsden,Milngavie,Bishopbriggs,Kirkintilloch,Lenzie,Twechar,Milton of Campsie,Balmore, andTorrance, as well as some other of Glasgow'scommuter towns and villages. The council area covers parts of thehistoric counties ofDunbartonshire,Lanarkshire, andStirlingshire.
Thecouncil area was formed in 1996, as a result of theLocal Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994, from the formerBearsden and Milngavie districts and most of the formerStrathkelvindistrict, which had been part of theStrathclyde region.
East Dunbartonshire was created in 1996 under theLocal Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994, which abolished theregions and districts which had been created in 1975, replacing them with unitarycouncil areas. East Dunbartonshire covered the area of the abolishedBearsden and Milngavie andStrathkelvin districts (except theChryston andAuchinloch area from the latter, which went toNorth Lanarkshire). Both former districts had been in theStrathclyde region.[3]
Both of East Dunbartonshire's predecessor districts had been created in 1975 under theLocal Government (Scotland) Act 1973. The Bearsden and Milngavie district had been created coveringMilngavie,Bearsden and adjoining areas fromDunbartonshire. The Strathkelvin district had been created coveringKirkintilloch and adjoining areas from Dunbartonshire,Bishopbriggs and adjoining areas fromLanarkshire, and the parishes ofBaldernock andCampsie fromStirlingshire.[4]
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.[5]
In a 2007Reader's Digest poll, East Dunbartonshire was voted the best place in Britain to raise a family.[6] The area has generally performed well in theHalifax Quality of Life survey; in 2010 it was ranked third in Scotland,[7] and it was the only Scottish area in the British Top 20 in 2008.[8] ALegatum Prosperity Index published by theLegatum Institute in October 2016 showed East Dunbartonshire as the most prosperous council area in Scotland and the ninth most prosperous in the United Kingdom.[9]
The 2022 Scottish Census reported that out of 106,057 residents aged three and over, 25,685 (24.2%) considered themselves able to speak or read theScots language.[10]
The 2022 Scottish Census reported that out of 106,061 residents aged three and over, 1,274 (1.2%) considered themselves able to speak or readGaelic.[11]
The area is divided into thirteencommunity council areas, twelve of which havecommunity councils as at 2023 (being those with asterisks in the list below):[12]
East Dunbartonshire | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Leadership | |
Gordan Low, SNP since 19 May 2022 | |
Ann Davie since January 2024[14] | |
| Structure | |
| Seats | 22 councillors |
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Political groups |
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| Elections | |
| Single transferable vote | |
Last election | 5 May 2022 |
Next election | 6 May 2027 |
| Meeting place | |
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| 12 Strathkelvin Place,Kirkintilloch, G66 1XT | |
| Website | |
| www | |
The council has been underno overall control since 1999. Following the2022 election aScottish National Partyminority administration formed to run the council.[15]
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:[16]
| Party in control | Years | |
|---|---|---|
| Labour | 1996–1999 | |
| No overall control | 1999– | |
The role ofprovost is largely ceremonial in East Dunbartonshire. 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, Charles Kennedy, had been the last leader of the old Strathkelvin District Council.[17] The leaders of East Dunbartonshire Council since 1996 have been:
| Councillor | Party | From | To | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charles Kennedy[17][18] | Labour | 1 Apr 1996 | Oct 1999 | ||
| Keith Moody[18][19] | Liberal Democrats | Oct 1999 | 2003 | ||
| John Morrison[20][21] | Liberal Democrats | 8 May 2003 | May 2007 | ||
| Rhondda Geekie[22][23][24] | Labour | 17 May 2007 | May 2017 | ||
| Gordan Low[25][26][27] | SNP | 23 May 2017 | 21 Dec 2017 | ||
| Vaughan Moody | Liberal Democrats | 20 Mar 2018 | May 2022 | Co-leaders[28][29] | |
| Andrew Polson | Conservative | ||||
| Gordan Low[13] | SNP | 19 May 2022 | |||
Following the2022 election, and subsequent by-elections and changes of allegiance up to August 2025, the composition of the council was:[30][31]
| Party | Councillors | |
|---|---|---|
| SNP | 8 | |
| Labour | 5 | |
| Liberal Democrats | 4 | |
| Conservative | 2 | |
| Independent | 3 | |
| Total | 22 | |
The next election is due in 2027.[31]
Since 2012 the council has been based at 12 Strathkelvin Place inKirkintilloch, which forms part of the Southbank Marina development adjoining theForth 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 afterTom Johnston (1881–1965), who was born in Kirkintilloch and had served asSecretary of State for Scotland during theSecond World War.[32] Tom Johnston House was demolished in 2015.[33] The new council chamber at Strathkelvin Place is called Tom Johnston Chamber.[34]
Since 2007 elections have been held every five years under thesingle transferable vote system, introduced by theLocal Governance (Scotland) Act 2004. Election results since 1995 have been as follows:[16]
| Year | Seats | SNP | Liberal Democrats | Labour | Conservative | Independent / Other | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | 26 | 0 | 9 | 15 | 2 | 0 | |
| 1999 | 24 | 1 | 10 | 10 | 3 | 0 | New ward boundaries.[35] |
| 2003 | 24 | 0 | 12 | 9 | 3 | 0 | |
| 2007 | 24 | 8 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 2[a] | New ward boundaries.[36] |
| 2012 | 24 | 8 | 3 | 8 | 2 | 3[b] | |
| 2017 | 22 | 7 | 6 | 2 | 6 | 1 | Source.[37] New ward boundaries.[38] |
| 2022 | 22 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 1 | Source.[39] |
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Since 2007, the council (as with all others in Scotland) has been elected using multi-memberwards, each returning three councillors using asingle transferable vote system ofproportional 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 the2017 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:[40]
| # | Ward Name | Location | Seats | Population (2020) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Milngavie |  | 3 | 13,572 |
| 2 | Bearsden North |  | 3 | 14,943 |
| 3 | Bearsden South |  | 3 | 13,318 |
| 4 | Bishopbriggs North and Campsie |  | 4 | 19,323 |
| 5 | Bishopbriggs South |  | 3 | 15,868 |
| 6 | Kirkintilloch East and North and Twechar |  | 3 | 18,251 |
| 7 | Lenzie and Kirkintilloch South |  | 3 | 13,475 |
Largest settlements by population:
| Settlement | Population (2020)[41] |
|---|---|
| Bearsden | 28,470 |
| Bishopbriggs | 23,680 |
| Kirkintilloch | 21,870 |
| Milngavie | 12,840 |
| Lenzie | 8,090 |
| Lennoxtown | 4,260 |
| Milton of Campsie | 3,910 |
| Torrance | 2,320 |
| Twechar | 1,340 |
There are 8 secondary schools and 33 primary schools in the area.[42][43] The secondary schools are:
Authority control databases: Geographic |
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