East Renfrewshire
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|---|---|
 East Renfrewshire shown withinScotland | |
| Coordinates:55°47′54″N4°17′27″W / 55.7984°N 4.2907°W /55.7984; -4.2907 | |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Country | Scotland |
| Lieutenancy area | Renfrewshire |
| Unitary authority | 1 April 1996 |
| Administrative HQ | Giffnock |
| Government | |
| • Type | Council |
| • Body | East Renfrewshire Council |
| • Control | No overall control |
| • MPs | Blair McDougall (L) |
| • MSPs | 2 MSPs |
| Area | |
• Total | 67 sq mi (174 km2) |
| • Rank | 28th |
| Population (2024)[2] | |
• Total | 99,830 |
| • Rank | 23rd |
| • Density | 1,480/sq mi (573/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC+0 (GMT) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+1 (BST) |
| ISO 3166 code | GB-ERW |
| GSS code | S12000011 |
| Website | eastrenfrewshire |
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East Renfrewshire (Scots:Aest Renfrewshire;Scottish Gaelic:Siorrachd Rinn Friù an Ear) is one of 32council areas of Scotland. It was formed in 1996, as a successor to theEastwood district of theStrathclyde region.
Clockwise, East Renfrewshire bordersGlasgow to the northeast,South Lanarkshire to the southeast,East Ayrshire to the southwest,North Ayrshire to the west andRenfrewshire to the northwest. Many of the council area's northern settlements fall into theGreater Glasgow urban area.
Until 1975, the council area formed part of thecounty ofRenfrewshire for local government purposes along with the modern council areas ofRenfrewshire andInverclyde. These three council areas together still form a singlelieutenancy area called Renfrewshire.
East Renfrewshire was created in 1996 under theLocal Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994, which replaced Scotland's previous local government structure of upper-tier regions and lower-tier districts with unitarycouncil areas providing all local government services. East Renfrewshire covered the whole of the abolishedEastwood district and part ofRenfrew district, being theBarrheadelectoral division, which roughly corresponded to the pre-1975burgh of Barrhead and parish ofNeilston, both lying in the valley of theLevern Water.[3] The new council also took over the functions of the abolishedStrathclyde Regional Council within the area.[4]
The area's name references its location within thehistoric county of Renfrewshire, which had been abolished for local government purposes in 1975 when Eastwood district and Strathclyde region had been created.[5] East Renfrewshire forms part of theRenfrewshire lieutenancy.[6]
The area that is now East Renfrewshire has been inhabited since prehistoric times. At Dunwan Hill nearEaglesham and at Duncarnock nearNewton Mearns there wereIron Age hill forts, both thought to have been occupied between around 1200 BC and 400 AD.[7][8] Ruins of a village, around 2000 years old at the time, were discovered in the early 1800s in the area now occupied byOverlee Playing Fields in Clarkston, but were destroyed as no significance was given to them at the time.[9] There was also evidence of an early castle at the Beechgrove Park in nearbyNetherlee.
During theIndustrial Revolution the Levern Valley became a centre for the textiles industry, with several mills being established in Neilston and Barrhead.[10]
Giffnock initially grew to house the workers at Giffnock Quarries, which opened in 1835. The honey-coloured stone from Giffnock was used atGlasgow University andGlasgow Central station among many other buildings. Following the development of the railways in the mid-nineteenth century, the parts of the area close to Glasgow became increasingly suburban in character.[11]
In 1941 during theSecond World War,Rudolf Hess, one of Adolf Hitler's top deputies within the Nazi Party, parachuted into Floors Farm, near the village ofWaterfoot, on a secret mission to meet theDuke of Hamilton and Brandon for peace negotiations. The botched landing led to his capture and arrest.[12] He was held in Scotland until theNuremburg Trials, where he was convicted and imprisoned in Germany until his death by suicide in 1987.
In 1971 agas explosion at aparade of shops in the centre ofClarkston killed 22 people and injured more than 100.[13]
In a 2007Reader's Digest poll,East Renfrewshire was voted the second best place in Britain to raise a family, ranking just behindEast Dunbartonshire to the north of Glasgow.[14]
In January 2008, East Renfrewshire became the first Scottish local authority to create aFacebook page to publicise its services.[15]
East Renfrewshire covers an area to the south and south-west ofGlasgow. Many of the district's settlements are classed as part of theGreater Glasgow urban area for statistical purposes. The largest of these, in terms of population, areNewton Mearns,Barrhead,Giffnock andClarkston. The area becomes more rural away from the Glasgow urban area with areas ofmoorland and numerous smalllochs, many of which have been turned into reservoirs. The moors include part of theWhitelee Wind Farm.[16][17]
The area is divided into elevencommunity council areas, all of which havecommunity councils:[18]
The 2022 Scottish Census reported that out of residents aged three and over, 21,189 (22.5%) considered themselves able to speak or read theScots language,[19] and 869 (0.9%) considered themselves able to speak or readGaelic.[20]
A 2011 survey showed that 41% ofScotland's Jewish population live in East Renfrewshire, making up 1.6% of the area's population in the 2022 census. In the census, "no religion" was the most selected religious option, with 38% of residents. 21% were Church of Scotland and 20.6% Roman Catholic, with 3.9% other Christians. 5.5% were Muslims. 6.9% did not state a religion.[21]
Largest localities by population
| Settlement | Population (2020)[22] |
|---|---|
| Newton Mearns | 28,210 |
| Barrhead | 17,890 |
| Giffnock | 12,250 |
| Clarkston | 9,800 |
| Neilston | 5,170 |
| Netherlee | 4,530 |
| Thornliebank | 4,170 |
| Stamperland | 3,630 |
| Eaglesham | 3,470 |
| Busby | 3,310 |
East Renfrewshire is home to many small to medium businesses. The interests of these businesses are looked after by the East Renfrewshire Chamber of Commerce.[23]
The local newspapers are theBarrhead News, covering the local authority with emphasis on the western half of the area, which primarily includes the town of Barrhead and the villages of Neilston and Uplawmoor, and theGlasgow South and Eastwood Extra, which is delivered free to homes and businesses, which has its emphasis on the eastern half of the local authority, but also covers news across the western half as well as the south ofGlasgow.[24]
East Renfrewshire | |
|---|---|
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| Leadership | |
Owen O'Donnell, Labour since 25 May 2022 | |
Steven Quinn since July 2023[25] | |
| Structure | |
| Seats | 18 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 | |
| Eastwood Park, Rouken Glen Road, Giffnock, G46 6UG | |
| Website | |
| www | |
The council has been underno overall control from its creation in 1996. Following the2022 election aminority administration ofLabour plus one of theindependent councillors formed to run the council.[26]
The first election to East Renfrewshire 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:[27]
| Party in control | Years | |
|---|---|---|
| No overall control | 1996–present | |
The role ofprovost is largely ceremonial in East Renfrewshire. 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 of the council, Owen Taylor, was formerly leader of Renfrew District Council, one of the council's predecessors. The leaders of East Renfrewshire Council since 1996 have been:
| Councillor | Party | From | To | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Owen Taylor[28][29] | Labour | 1 Apr 1996 | Dec 2004 | |
| Jim Fletcher[30][31] | Labour | Dec 2004 | May 2017 | |
| Tony Buchanan[32][33] | SNP | 24 May 2017 | May 2022 | |
| Owen O'Donnell[34] | Labour | 25 May 2022 | ||
Following the2022 election and subsequent by-elections and changes of allegiance up to August 2025, the composition of the council was:[35]
| Party | Councillors | |
|---|---|---|
| Conservative | 5 | |
| Labour | 5 | |
| SNP | 5 | |
| Independent | 3 | |
| Total | 18 | |
The next election is due in 2027.[35]
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The council has its headquarters at Eastwood Park on Rouken Glen Road inGiffnock, in a building which was completed in 1980 for the former Eastwood District Council.[36][37]
The council also has an office and customer service centre at 211 Main Street inBarrhead, built in 2003.[38][39]
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:[27]
| Year | Seats | SNP | Conservative | Labour | Liberal Democrats | Independent / Other | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | 20 | 0 | 9 | 8 | 2 | 1 | Labour / Lib Dem coalition |
| 1999 | 20 | 0 | 8 | 9 | 2 | 1 | New ward boundaries.[40] |
| 2003 | 20 | 0 | 7 | 8 | 3 | 2 | |
| 2007 | 20 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 1 | 2 | New ward boundaries.[41] |
| 2012 | 20 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 0 | 2 | Labour / Independent / SNP coalition |
| 2017 | 18 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 2 | New ward boundaries.[42] SNP / Labour / Independent coalition |
| 2022 | 18 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 2 | Labour / Independent minority |
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Six multi-memberwards (20 seats) were created for the 2007 election, replacing 20 single-member wards which had been in place since the creation of the council in 1995. This representation decreased to 18 seats across five renamed and redrawn wards for the 2017 election:[43]
| Ward number | Ward | Location | Seats |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Barrhead, Liboside and Uplawmoor |  | 4 |
| 2 | Newton Mearns North and Neilston |  | 3 |
| 3 | Giffnock and Thornliebank |  | 3 |
| 4 | Clarkston, Netherlee and Williamwood |  | 4 |
| 5 | Newton Mearns South and Eaglesham |  | 4 |
Authority control databases: Geographic |
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