Renfrewshire Siorrachd Rinn Friù (Scottish Gaelic) | |
|---|---|
 Coat of arms | |
 Renfrewshire shown withinScotland | |
| Coordinates:55°49′47″N4°32′34″W / 55.829858°N 4.542838°W /55.829858; -4.542838 | |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Country | Scotland |
| Lieutenancy area | Renfrewshire |
| Unitary authority | 1 April 1996 |
| Administrative HQ | Renfrewshire House,Paisley |
| Government | |
| • Type | Council |
| • Body | Renfrewshire Council |
| • Control | No overall control |
| • MPs | 2 MPs |
| • MSPs | 3 MSPs |
| Area | |
• Total | 101 sq mi (261 km2) |
| • Rank | 24th |
| Population (2024)[2] | |
• Total | 189,170 |
| • Rank | 9th |
| • Density | 1,870/sq mi (723/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC+0 (GMT) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+1 (BST) |
| ISO 3166 code | GB-RFW |
| GSS code | S12000038 |
| Website | renfrewshire |
Renfrewshire (/ˈrɛnfruːʃɪər,-ʃər/REN-froo-sheer, -shər;Scots:Renfrewshire;Scottish Gaelic:Siorrachd Rinn Friù) is one of the 32council areas of Scotland. Renfrewshire is located in the westcentral Lowlands. It bordersEast Renfrewshire,Glasgow,Inverclyde,North Ayrshire andWest Dunbartonshire, and lies on the southern bank of theRiver Clyde. The current council area of Renfrewshire was established in 1996. The town ofPaisley is the area's main settlement andcentre of local government. The area also contains the historiccounty town ofRenfrew.
The council area has the same name as thehistoric county of Renfrewshire, which had been abolished for local government purposes in 1975, but the modern council area only covers the central part of the historic county. The eastern part of the pre-1975 county is covered by theEast Renfrewshire council area, and the western part by theInverclyde council area.
The term Renfrewshire may also be used to refer to the larger historic county, which was established in the fifteenth century. The three council areas of Renfrewshire, Inverclyde, and East Renfrewshire together form theRenfrewshire lieutenancy area. The same area also has a joint valuation board area for electoral registration and local tax valuation purposes. The three council areas together are sometimes referred to as Greater Renfrewshire to distinguish them from the council area called Renfrewshire.
The name Renfrewshire derives from being theshire (the area controlled by asheriff) administered from theroyal burgh ofRenfrew. The name Renfrew has been attested since the Roman occupation of Britain. The name is believed to originate fromCommon Brittonic/Cumbric, from ren, as inScottish Gaelic:rinn, or as inWelsh:rhyn (a point or cape of land) and from frew, as inWelsh:fraw, orffrau (flow of water). This suggests a point of land near the flow of water, such as at the confluence of the Cart and Clyde rivers.[3]
The historic county of Renfrewshire was abolished for local government purposes in 1975. The county was divided to become three of the nineteendistricts in theStrathclyde region, beingEastwood, Inverclyde, andRenfrew.[4]
In the debates leading to the local government reforms of theLocal Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994, the government initially proposed replacing these three districts with two council areas: "West Renfrewshire", covering Inverclyde district and the western parts of Renfrew district (including Paisley,Johnstone, and Renfrew), and "East Renfrewshire", covering Eastwood district and the eastern parts of Renfrew district (includingBarrhead,Neilston andRalston). The proposals were criticised, with West Renfrewshire having three times the population of East Renfrewshire; the accusation was made in parliament that the proposed changes constitutedgerrymandering, with East Renfrewshire only being kept separate because it had moreConservative voters.[5]
The proposals were not supported locally, with Inverclyde successfully campaigning to be allowed to form its own council area, and the Ralston area voting in a referendum not to be transferred to East Renfrewshire.[6] When the government conceded to allow Inverclyde to continue as a separate authority, the name West Renfrewshire was dropped. The central district was instead named Renfrewshire, despite only covering the central part of the historic county of that name. The new Renfrewshire covered the former Renfrew district except for the Barrheadelectoral division (which also included Neilston) which went instead to East Renfrewshire. The new council areas came into effect on 1 April 1996.[7]
TheBraehead shopping centre was built in 1999 straddling the boundary between Renfrewshire and Glasgow, leading to a dispute between the two councils. It was agreed that the boundary should be changed to place the whole centre in one council area, but both authorities wanted it. In 2002, theLocal Government Boundary Commission eventually redrew the boundary to include all of the centre in Renfrewshire.[8][9]
Largest settlements by population:
| Settlement | Population (2020)[10] |
|---|---|
| Paisley | 77,270 |
| Renfrew | 24,270 |
| Johnstone | 15,930 |
| Erskine | 15,010 |
| Linwood | 8,450 |
| Bishopton | 7,920 |
| Houston | 6,360 |
| Elderslie | 5,480 |
| Bridge of Weir | 4,920 |
| Kilbarchan | 3,300 |
The area is divided into 25community council areas, 20 of which havecommunity councils as at 2023 (being those with asterisks in the list below):[11]
| Ethnic Group | 2001[12] | 2011[12][13] | 2022[14] | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | |
| White: Total | 170,728 | 98.76% | 170,127 | 97.27% | 171,816 | 94.78% |
| White:Scottish | 161,395 | 93.36% | 159,708 | 91.31% | 147,073 | 81.13% |
| White:Other British | 5,956 | 3.45% | 5,805 | 3.32% | 12,959 | 7.15% |
| White:Irish | 1,877 | 1.09% | 1,643 | 0.94% | 1,290 | 0.71% |
| White:Gypsy/Traveller[a] | – | – | 70 | – | 70 | – |
| White:Polish[a] | – | – | 1,298 | 0.74% | 5,568 | 3.07% |
| White:Other | 1,500 | 0.87% | 1,603 | 0.92% | 4,853 | 2.68% |
| Asian,Asian Scottish orAsian British: Total | 1,509 | 0.87% | 3,110 | 1.78% | 5,056 | |
| Asian, Asian Scottish or Asian British:Indian | 461 | 0.27% | 1,028 | 0.59% | 1,315 | 0.73% |
| Asian, Asian Scottish or Asian British:Pakistani | 497 | 0.29% | 965 | 0.55% | 2,338 | 1.29% |
| Asian, Asian Scottish or Asian British:Bangladeshi | 8 | – | 19 | – | 45 | – |
| Asian, Asian Scottish or Asian British:Chinese | 440 | 0.25% | 823 | 0.47% | 810 | 0.45% |
| Asian, Asian Scottish or Asian British:Asian Other | 103 | 0.06% | 275 | 0.16% | 548 | 0.30% |
| Black,Black Scottish orBlack British[b] | 30 | – | – | – | – | – |
| African: Total | 113 | 0.07% | 804 | 0.46% | 1,439 | 0.79% |
| African:African,African Scottish orAfrican British | – | – | 782 | 0.45% | 165 | 0.09% |
| African:Other African | – | – | 22 | – | 1,274 | 0.70% |
| Caribbean orBlack: Total | – | – | 119 | 0.07% | 163 | 0.09% |
| Caribbean | 54 | – | 64 | – | 68 | – |
| Black | – | – | 47 | – | 15 | – |
| Caribbean or Black:Other | – | – | 8 | – | 80 | – |
| Mixed or multiple ethnic groups: Total | 285 | 0.16% | 437 | 0.25% | 1,912 | 1.05% |
| Other: Total | 148 | 0.09% | 311 | 0.18% | 888 | 0.49% |
| Other:Arab[a] | – | – | 194 | 0.11% | 329 | 0.18% |
| Other: Any other ethnic group | – | – | 117 | 0.07% | 559 | 0.31% |
| Total: | 172,867 | 100.00% | 174,908 | 100.00% | 181,278 | 100.00% |
The 2022 Scottish Census reported that out of 178,875 residents aged three and over, 54,274 (30.3%) considered themselves able to speak or read theScots language.[15]
The 2022 Scottish Census reported that out of 178,868 residents aged three and over, 1,768 (1%) considered themselves able to speak or readGaelic.[16]
Renfrewshire contains several places of interest. In the west of Renfrewshire,Castle Semple Loch at Lochwinnoch and the widerClyde Muirshiel Regional Park are natural areas of interest, as is theGleniffer Braes country park in the south.
Paisley contains several historic buildings and notable sites, includingPaisley Abbey, Paisley Museum and Coats Observatory,Paisley Town Hall, Coats Memorial Church, Sma' Shot Cottages andSt Mirren Park (home ofSt Mirren F.C.). Outside of Paisley,Elderslie, the claimed birthplace of Scottish knightWilliam Wallace, contains a monument in his honour, while theWeaver's Cottage atKilbarchan is in the care of theNational Trust for Scotland. The town ofJohnstone is notable forJohnstone Castle, Johnstone High Parish Church and for containing a museum within a supermarket.
TheBraehead Arena in Renfrewshire close to the boundary withGlasgow is home to leading professionalbasketball team, theScottish Rocks, who compete in theBritish Basketball League. The arena was also host to the2000 Ford World Curling Championships.
The twoparliamentary constituencies covering Renfrewshire arePaisley and Renfrewshire North andPaisley and Renfrewshire South, being represented byLabour Party politiciansAlison Taylor andJohanna Baxter of the respectively. Created in 2005, both seats had held by the Labour Party, until they were won byGavin Newlands andMhairi Black with swings of over 26% in the SNP landslide at the2015 general election. Both seats returned to Labour following the 2024 general election.
| Party | Votes cast | % | Seats | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | 2010 | 2015 | 2017 | 2019 | 2024 | 2005 | 2010 | 2015 | 2017 | 2019 | 2024 | 2005 | 2010 | 2015 | 2017 | 2019 | 2024 | ||
| Labour | 38,601 | 47,455 | 34,389 | 29,265 | 22,409 | 39,144 | 49.0 | 56.7 | 35.6 | 33.1 | 24.2 | 47.3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| Scottish National | 14,349 | 15,621 | 49,149 | 34,419 | 44,990 | 26,284 | 18.2 | 18.6 | 50.8 | 39.0 | 48.5 | 31.7 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | |
| Conservative | 8,754 | 10,360 | 9,709 | 20,964 | 18,788 | 4,878 | 11.1 | 12.4 | 10.0 | 23.7 | 20.3 | 5.9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Liberal Democrat | 14,136 | 8,409 | 2,065 | 2,803 | 6,579 | 2,689 | 18.0 | 10.0 | 2.1 | 3.2 | 7.1 | 3.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Others | 2,905 | 1,920 | 1,376 | 876 | N/A | 9,807 | 3.7 | 2.3 | 1.4 | 1.0 | N/A | 11.9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 0 | |
| Margin | 24,252 | 31,834 | 14,760 | 5,154 | 22,581 | 12,860 | 30.8 | 38.1 | 15.2 | 5.9 | 24.3 | 15.6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | |
| Total | 78,745 | 83,765 | 96,688 | 88,327 | 92,766 | 82,802 | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | |
Following the establishment of theScottish Parliament in 1999, the Labour Party held the three seats covering Renfrewshire, although with lower majorities than their House of Commons equivalents.
Constituency boundaries were redrawn for the2011 Scottish Parliament election, with the new constituencies ofRenfrewshire North and West andPaisley being gained byDerek Mackay andGeorge Adam, who became the first SNP parliamentarians in Renfrewshire. The remaining Labour seat,Renfrewshire South, was gained by the SNP'sTom Arthur at the2016 Scottish election. Arthur and Adam were re-elected in2021 winning over half the vote in their respective seats, while Mackay was replaced by Renfrewshire CouncillorNatalie Don.
Renfrewshire is also contained with theWest Scotland region which elects seven additional members.
A majority of Renfrewshire rejected independence in the2014 Scottish independence referendum, although with 55,466 (47.2%) votes cast in favour and 62,067 (52.8%) against, theYes vote was higher than the national result. The turnout was 117,612 or 87.3%, the highest recorded in the democratic era.
With a turnout of 69.2% (88,197), Renfrewshire voted to remain in the2016 European Union membership referendum with 64.8% (57,119) of votes cast in favour of remaining while 35.2% (31,010) were for leaving. This was the sixth highest vote forRemain out of Scotland's 32 councils.
Renfrewshire contains theUniversity of the West of Scotland, anew university that was granted university status in 1992 as the University of Paisley. Prior to this, the Paisley Technical College and School of Art was aCentral Institution orpolytechnic. In 2007 the university merged withBell College, a further education college inHamilton, South Lanarkshire and the UWS name was adopted. The university today has sites across the west of Scotland, notably also inAyr and a joint campus inDumfries; the main campus remains in Paisley.
Further education is provided by Paisley Campus ofWest College Scotland inPaisley, which caters to around 20,000 students. The college also has sites inInverclyde andWest Dumbartonshire.[17]
Renfrewshire contains eleven state secondary schools: Castlehead High School, Gleniffer High School, Gryffe High School, Johnstone High School, Linwood High School, Paisley Grammar School, Park Mains High School, Renfrew High School, St Andrew's Academy, St Benedict's High School, and Trinity High School. It also has 51 primary schools and three schools forchildren with additional support needs.
Renfrewshire is home to Scotland's second busiest airport,Glasgow International Airport, at Abbotsinch betweenPaisley andRenfrew. The presence of the airport and the proximity to Glasgow means that Renfrewshire supports one of the busiest transport infrastructures in Scotland.
The airport is served by theM8 motorway, which terminates in the area, just east ofLangbank, and is a major artery between northwest and southwest Scotland, via theErskine Bridge.
Developments to ease traffic flow have included a lifting of tolls on theErskine Bridge, original plans toextend the rail network to connect to the airport have been cancelled and the latest suggestion in 2019 is a metro line connecting Paisley to the airport then on to Glasgow via Braehead. Also theM74 extension was completed to handle traffic from Renfrewshire heading south, diverting it away fromGlasgow city centre.[18] Renfrewshire also has bus links provided byFirstGroup,McGill's Bus Services and other smaller operators.
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