Falkirk
| |
|---|---|
 Coat of arms | |
 Falkirk shown withinScotland | |
| Coordinates:55°58′34″N3°47′49″W / 55.976°N 3.797°W /55.976; -3.797 | |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Country | Scotland |
| Lieutenancy area | Stirling and Falkirk |
| Unitary authority | 1 April 1996 |
| Government | |
| • Type | Council |
| • Body | Falkirk Council |
| • Control | No overall control |
| • MPs | 3 MPs |
| • MSPs | 2 MSPs |
| Area | |
• Total | 115 sq mi (297 km2) |
| • Rank | 22nd |
| Population (2022)[2] | |
• Total | 158,450 |
| • Rank | 11th |
| • Density | 1,380/sq mi (533/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC+0 (GMT) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+1 (BST) |
| ISO 3166 code | GB-FAL |
| GSS code | S12000014 |
| Website | falkirk |
Falkirk (/ˈfɔːlkɜːrk/FAWL-kurk;Scots:Fawkirk[ˈfɔːkɪrk];Scottish Gaelic:An Eaglais Bhreac) is one of 32unitary authoritycouncil areas of Scotland. It was formed on 1 April 1996 by way of theLocal Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 from the exact boundaries of FalkirkDistrict, one of three parts of theCentral region created in 1975, which was abolished at that time. Prior to the 1975 reorganisation, the majority of the council area was part of the historiccounty ofStirlingshire, and a small part, namelyBo'ness andBlackness, was part of the former county ofWest Lothian.
The council area borders withNorth Lanarkshire,Stirling andWest Lothian, and, across theFirth of Forth to the northeast,Clackmannanshire andFife. The largest town isFalkirk; other settlements, most of which surround Falkirk within 6 miles (9.7 km) of its centre, include Bo'ness,Bonnybridge,Denny,Grangemouth,Larbert,Polmont,Shieldhill,Camelon andStenhousemuir.
The council is led by the SNP which won 12 seats in the2022 Council Election. The incumbent leader of is councillor Cecil Meiklejohn; the provost is Robert Bissett and the deputy provost is David Balfour.
The town ofFalkirk was made aburgh in 1600, and was then governed by a town council (also known as the corporation) until 1975.[3] Scotland's counties,burghs andlandward districts were abolished in 1975 under theLocal Government (Scotland) Act 1973, and replaced with upper-tierregions and lower-tierdistricts. A new Falkirk District was created as one of three districts within theCentral Region. The new district was significantly larger than the old Falkirk burgh, covering the whole area of eight former districts and part of a ninth, which were all abolished at the same time:[4]
FromStirlingshire:
FromWest Lothian:
The resulting area could also be defined in terms ofparishes as:[5][6]
The new district and its neighbourStirling were together made a newStirling and Falkirklieutenancy area. The lastLord Lieutenant of Stirlingshire became the firstLord Lieutenant of Stirling and Falkirk.[7]
Local government was reformed again in 1996 under theLocal Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994, which abolished the regions and districts which had been created in 1975, replacing them with unitarycouncil areas. Central Region was abolished and each of the area's three districts, including Falkirk, became council areas.[8]
Largest settlements by population:
| Settlement | Population (2020)[9] |
|---|---|
| Falkirk | 35,590 |
| Grangemouth | 16,120 |
| Bo'ness | 14,840 |
| Larbert | 12,180 |
| Stenhousemuir | 9,620 |
| Denny | 8,500 |
| Bonnybridge | 5,200 |
| Polmont | 5,040 |
| Brightons | 4,270 |
| Maddiston | 3,910 |
Falkirk | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Leadership | |
Kenneth Lawrie since August 2018[12] | |
| Structure | |
| Seats | 30 councillors |
 | |
Political groups |
|
| Elections | |
| Single transferable vote | |
Last election | 5 May 2022 |
Next election | 6 May 2027 |
| Meeting place | |
| Falkirk | |
| Website | |
| www | |
The first election to Falkirk 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 change to council areas which came into force on 1 April 1996. Political control since 1975 has been as follows:[13]
Falkirk District Council
| Party in control | Years | |
|---|---|---|
| No overall control | 1975–1977 | |
| SNP | 1977–1980 | |
| Labour | 1980–1992 | |
| No overall control | 1992–1996 | |
Falkirk Council
| Party in control | Years | |
|---|---|---|
| Labour | 1996–1999 | |
| No overall control | 1999– | |
Theleaders of the council since 2001 have been:[14]
| Councillor | Party | From | To | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| David Alexander | SNP | Feb 2001 | May 2007 | |
| Linda Gow | Labour | 18 May 2007 | Jan 2010 | |
| Craig Martin | Labour | 28 Jan 2010 | 4 May 2017 | |
| Cecil Meiklejohn | SNP | 25 May 2017 | ||
From the district council's creation in 1975, it was based at the Municipal Buildings on West Bridge Street in Falkirk, which had been built for the former Falkirk Town Council and had been formally opened on 21 January 1966.[15] The building was part of a complex which also included a courthouse, a clinic, and an events venue and theatre called Falkirk Town Hall. Prior to 1966 the town council had been based at the old Municipal Buildings at 12–14 Newmarket Street in the town centre, which had been built in 1879.[16]
After deciding the 1966 building was uneconomic to repair and maintain, the council vacated the Municipal Buildings in 2020 pending their demolition.[17] The attached Falkirk Town Hall closed in 2023.[18] Since 2020, the council's offices have been distributed across several buildings throughout the area.[19][20] It was subsequently decided to build a new headquarters on the site of the former Callendar Square shopping centre in central Falkirk. Work began on the site in May 2024, and the new building is projected to be completed in 2027.[21]
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:[13]
| Year | Seats | SNP | Labour | Conservative | Independent / Other | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | 36 | 8 | 23 | 2 | 3 | |
| 1999 | 32 | 9 | 15 | 2 | 6 | New ward boundaries.[22] |
| 2003 | 32 | 9 | 14 | 2 | 7 | |
| 2007 | 32 | 13 | 14 | 2 | 3 | New ward boundaries.[23] |
| 2012 | 32 | 13 | 14 | 2 | 3 | |
| 2017 | 30 | 12 | 9 | 7 | 2 | New ward boundaries.[24] |
| 2022 | 30 | 12 | 9 | 5 | 4 | |
.svg)
For the purposes of elections to Falkirk Council, the area is divided geographically into a number ofwards which then elect either three or four councillors each by theSingle Transferable Vote system. The electoral system oflocal councils in Scotland is governed by theLocal Governance (Scotland) Act 2004, anAct of theScottish Parliament which first introducedproportional representation to councils. These electoral wards are as follows:[24]
| Ward number | Name | Location | Seats |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bo'ness and Blackness |  | 3 |
| 2 | Grangemouth |  | 3 |
| 3 | Denny and Banknock |  | 4 |
| 4 | Carse, Kinnaird and Tryst |  | 4 |
| 5 | Bonnybridge and Larbert |  | 3 |
| 6 | Falkirk North |  | 4 |
| 7 | Falkirk South |  | 3 |
| 8 | Lower Braes |  | 3 |
| 9 | Upper Braes |  | 3 |
The area is divided into 23community council areas, eleven of which havecommunity councils as at 2023, being those with asterisks.[25]
Local government areas ofScotland, in use 1975 to 1996 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Borders |  | |
| Central | ||
| Dumfries and Galloway | ||
| Fife | ||
| Grampian | ||
| Highland | ||
| Lothian | ||
| Strathclyde | ||
| Tayside | ||
| Island areas1 | ||
| International | |
|---|---|
| Geographic | |
