Strathclyde Srath Chluaidh
FormerRegion
Flag
Area
1,350,283 hectares (3,336,620 acres)
Population
c. 2,286,800
History
• Origin	Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973
• Created	16 May 1975
• Abolished	31 March 1996
• Succeeded by	Argyll and Bute East Ayrshire East Dunbartonshire East Renfrewshire Glasgow City Council Inverclyde North Ayrshire North Lanarkshire Renfrewshire South Ayrshire South Lanarkshire West Dunbartonshire
Government	Strathclyde Regional Council
• Type	Regional Council
• HQ	Strathclyde House, India Street,Glasgow

Strathclyde (Ystrad Clud inWelsh;Srath Chluaidh[s̪t̪ɾaˈxl̪ˠɯi] inGaelic, meaning 'strath [valley] of theRiver Clyde') was one of nine formerlocal governmentregions ofScotland created in 1975 by theLocal Government (Scotland) Act 1973 and abolished in 1996 by theLocal Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994. The Strathclyde region had 19districts. The region was named after the early medievalKingdom of Strathclyde centred onGovan, but covered a broader geographic area than its namesake by includingArgyll and variousWesternislands in addition to its Southwestern core.

The Strathclyde region was created in 1975 under theLocal Government (Scotland) Act 1973, which established a two-tier structure of local government across Scotland comprising upper-tier regions and lower-tier districts. Strathclyde covered the whole area of sixcounties and parts of another two, which were all abolished for local government purposes at the same time:^[1][2][3][4]

• Argyll (exceptArdnamurchanDistrict and the electoral divisions ofBallachulish andKinlochleven)
• Ayrshire
• Buteshire
• Dunbartonshire
• Glasgow
• Lanarkshire
• Renfrewshire
• Stirlingshire (part, being the burgh ofKilsyth, Western No. 3 District, the electoral division of Kilsyth West, and the polling district of Kilsyth East (Banton))

The region was named after theancient British orBrythonicDamnoniiKingdom of Strathclyde. The kingdom had broadly covered the southern part of the local government region created in 1975, thus with the Argyll and Buteshire parts not having been within the ancient kingdom. Conversely, the kingdom had included areas further to the south, which were never part of the post-1975 Strathclyde (Dumfries and Galloway, as well asCumbria in England).

Strathclyde Regional Council was responsible for education, social work, police, fire, sewage,strategic planning, roads, and transport. It employed almost 100,000 public servants, almost half of whom were teachers, lecturers and others in the education service.^[5][6]

Strathclyde region was abolished in 1996 under theLocal Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 which replaced regions and districts withunitary council areas. The region was divided into twelvecouncil areas:Argyll and Bute,East Ayrshire,East Dunbartonshire,East Renfrewshire,Glasgow City (created asCity of Glasgow),Inverclyde,North Ayrshire,North Lanarkshire,Renfrewshire,South Ayrshire,South Lanarkshire, andWest Dunbartonshire (created asDumbarton and Clydebank)^[7]

The Strathclyde region was on the west coast of Scotland and stretched from theHighlands in the north to theSouthern Uplands in the south. It included some of theInner Hebrides in the north-west but also contained Scotland's largest urban area of Glasgow. As a local government region, its population, in excess of 2.5 million, was by far the largest of the regions and contained half of the population of Scotland.^[8]

Politics in the region were dominated by theLabour Party. The first regional council convener was the ReverendGeoff Shaw, who died in 1978. It was largely due to his leadership that the regional council forged its innovative strategy onmultiple deprivation, which remained its central commitment to the end of the region's life through "Social Strategy for the Eighties" (1982) and "SS for the 90s".^[9]

Thefirst election to Strathclyde Regional 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. Throughout the council's existence Labour held a majority of the seats:^[10]

The council had two main leadership roles: a convener who acted as ceremonial head and presided at council meetings, and aleader of the council to provide political leadership.

Conveners

Leaders

Bob Gould became the leader of the reformedGlasgow City Council on the abolition of the regional council in 1996.^[25]

Elections were held every four years.^[10]

• 
  1982 results map
• 
  1986 results map
• 
  1990 results map
• 
  1994 results map

The council initially rented offices called Melrose House at 19 Cadogan Street in Glasgow to act as an interim headquarters pending a decision being taken on a permanent headquarters. Various other offices around the centre of Glasgow were also used for additional office space, notably on India Street (theGlasgow City Chambers was not used by the regional administration and was instead the headquarters for theGlasgow district). In 1976, the nearby formerGlasgow High School buildings at 94 Elmbank Street were vacated. The council converted the former school buildings to become its headquarters, using the school's dining room block of 1897 to become a council chamber, whilst using the India Street offices as additional accommodation.^[27] The remodelled school and neighbouring offices were formally opened byElizabeth II on 2 November 1979, when the whole complex of eleven buildings was collectively renamed "Strathclyde House".^[28][29]

After the council's abolition several of the modern office buildings which made up Strathclyde House were gradually sold off for redevelopment.^[30][31][32] The old High School buildings, which are category A listed buildings, were used byGlasgow City Council as additional office space.^[33][34] The council chamber there was briefly used in 2000 by theScottish Parliament, whilst its new permanent home atHolyrood was under construction and the temporary buildings inEdinburgh were booked out.^[35] Glasgow City Council sold the old High School buildings in 2010 but a new use has yet to be found for them.^[36] By 2024, all of the 1960s/70s-era buildings of the complex had been demolished; part of the site being used for a new headquarters building forScottish Power whilst various residential developments have been proposed for the remainder.

Until April 2013, the area was also used as a police force area, covered byStrathclyde Police, and afire service area, covered byStrathclyde Fire and Rescue Service. Both have now been replaced by single services (Police Scotland andScottish Fire and Rescue Service).^[37]

Strathclyde Transport

Originally known asStrathclyde Transport and later as SPT, a name still in use today. Strathclyde Transport managed transportation services for the region running rail services in strathclyde in partnership withBritish Rail and later theScotRail Franchise holder. Strathclyde Transport also ran busses in the region under the brandStrathclyde Buses up untilbus deregulation in 1986,^[38] as well running theGlasgow subway, the third oldest underground system in the world.^[39] Strathclyde Transport also was involved in transport projects for the region some examples include:

• The re-opening of theArgyle Line^[40]
• The 1994 StrathclydeTram proposal^[41][42]

Strathclyde Transport also administered theZoneCard integrated ticketing system as well as many other tickets to encourage intermodal travel and an integrated ticketing system, with Zonecard still remaining today. The SPT name is still in use today as a transport area, covered byStrathclyde Partnership for Transport. The area today is covered by Strathclyde Partnership for Transport and previouslyStrathclyde Passenger Transport is smaller than the original region, as most ofArgyll and Bute now lies outside its remit.

Except forArgyll and Bute and theCity of Glasgow, the 19 districts were grouped to form 'sub-regions' or 'divisions', each named after a historic county. The Argyll and Bute district and the City of Glasgow district were sub-regions in their own right, and Argyll and Bute was named after two counties.^[43]

• Glasgow (European Parliament constituency)
• Strathclyde East (European Parliament constituency)
• Strathclyde West (European Parliament constituency)
• Strathclyde Park, in Motherwell, created during the era
• University of Strathclyde, in Glasgow

• Media related toStrathclyde at Wikimedia Commons

55°44′N5°02′W / 55.733°N 5.033°W /55.733; -5.033

• Regions of Scotland
• 1996 disestablishments in Scotland
• 1975 establishments in Scotland
• States and territories disestablished in 1996
• States and territories established in 1975
• Politics of Glasgow
• Politics of South Lanarkshire
• Politics of West Dunbartonshire
• Politics of North Lanarkshire
• Politics of Renfrewshire
• Politics of East Renfrewshire
• Politics of East Dunbartonshire
• Politics of Argyll and Bute
• Politics of Inverclyde
• Politics of North Ayrshire
• Politics of East Ayrshire
• Politics of South Ayrshire
• Strathclyde
• Organisations based in Glasgow

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