South Lanarkshire

South Lanarkshire Sooth Lanrikshire Siorrachd Lannraig a Deas
Coat of arms Council logo
Coordinates: 55°36′N 3°47′W / 55.600°N 3.783°W / 55.600; -3.783Coordinates: 55°36′N 3°47′W / 55.600°N 3.783°W / 55.600; -3.783
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Country	Scotland
Lieutenancy area	Lanarkshire
Admin HQ	Hamilton
Government
• Body	South Lanarkshire Council Almada Street Hamilton South Lanarkshire ML3 0AA southlanarkshire.gov.uk
• Control	SNP minority (council NOC)
• MPs	David Mundell (Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale) Lisa Cameron (East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow) Angela Crawley (Lanark and Hamilton East) Margaret Ferrier (Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
• MSPs	Màiri McAllan (Clydesdale) Collette Stevenson (East Kilbride) Christina McKelvie (Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse) Clare Haughey (Rutherglen) Stephanie Callaghan (Uddingston and Bellshill)
Area
• Total	684 sq mi (1,772 km2)
Area rank	Ranked 11th
Population  (mid-2019 est.)
• Total	319,020
• Rank	Ranked 5th
• Density	470/sq mi (180/km2)
ONS code	S12000029
ISO 3166 code	GB-SLK
Largest town	East Kilbride
Largest urban area	Hamilton, South Lanarkshire
Website	www.southlanarkshire.gov.uk

South Lanarkshire (Scots: Sooth Lanrikshire; Scottish Gaelic: Siorrachd Lannraig a Deas) is one of 32 unitary authorities of Scotland. It borders the south-east of the City of Glasgow and contains some of Greater Glasgow's suburban towns, also containing many rural towns and villages. It also shares borders with Dumfries and Galloway, East Ayrshire, East Renfrewshire, North Lanarkshire, the Scottish Borders and West Lothian. It includes most of the historic county of Lanarkshire.

South Lanarkshire Council[]

South Lanarkshire Council has its headquarters in Hamilton, has 16,000 employees, and a budget of almost £1bn. The large and varied geographical territory takes in rural and upland areas, market towns such as Lanark, Strathaven and Carluke, the urban burghs of Rutherglen, Cambuslang, and East Kilbride which was Scotland's first new town. The area was formed in 1996 from the areas of Clydesdale,^[1] Hamilton and East Kilbride districts, and some outer areas of Glasgow district (Rutherglen/Fernhill, Cambuslang/Halfway and part of King's Park/Toryglen); all were previously within the Strathclyde region from 1975 but in historic Lanarkshire prior to that.^[2][3][4][5]

Leadership[]

South Lanarkshire operates a cabinet style system, with key decisions being taken by the Executive Committee, under the leadership of the Council Leader,^[6] and approved by the council, led by the provost.

The first leader of South Lanarkshire Council, selected from among the sitting councillors, was Tom McCabe who previously held the same office at Hamilton District.^[7] When McCabe was elected as an MSP in 1999, the role went to his deputy Eddie McAvoy - brother of one of the region's MPs Tommy McAvoy - who held the post for the next 18 years until his retirement ahead of the 2017 election.^[8][9] The new leader from 2017 was John Ross.^[10]

The ambassadorial role of provost is also filled by one of the serving councillors.^[11] Office holders include:

• Sam Casserly (1995-1999) - previous provost of Hamilton district^[7][12]
• Alan Dick (1999-2003)^[13]
• Mushtaq Ahmad (2003-2007)^[14]
• Russell Clearie (2007-2012)^[15][16]
• Eileen Logan (2012-2017) - previous provost of Clydesdale district^[17][18]
• Ian McAllan (2017-)^[19]

Political composition[]

Elections[]

• 1995 South Lanarkshire Council election
• 1999 South Lanarkshire Council election
• 2003 South Lanarkshire Council election
• 2007 South Lanarkshire Council election
• 2012 South Lanarkshire Council election
• 2017 South Lanarkshire Council election

Wards[]

In the council's initial 12 years, individual wards (73 in 1995, adjusted down to 67 in 1999 and 2003) each electing one councillor using the First past the post method.^[21][22]

Since the 2007 South Lanarkshire Council election, there are 20 council wards in South Lanarkshire,^[23] each serving a population ranging from 13,000 to 20,000^[24] and each ward represented on the council by 3 or 4 councillors elected using single transferable vote; in 2007 and 2012 this produced a total of 67 available seats, which was adjusted down to 64 in 2017 along with boundary adjustments, although the same number of wards overall.

Map of South Lanarkshire's 20 wards, using 2017 boundaries

Council Headquarters[]

South Lanarkshire Council Headquarters

The Council Headquarters building, on Almada Street, Hamilton, was built as the Lanark County Buildings in 1963, and designed by Lanark council architect D G Bannerman,^{[25][26][27][28]} replacing Hamilton Townhouse in the function. The 17 storey, 165 feet (50 m) tower is the largest in Hamilton, is Category A-listed, and is a highly visible landmark across this part of the Clyde Valley. The modernist design was influenced by the United Nations building in New York City. Glass curtain walls cover the north and south facades, with the narrow east and west sides being blank white walls. At the front of the building is the circular council chamber, and a plaza with water features. It is known by locals as the "County Buildings".

Towns and villages[]

Principal settlements (and populations)[]

^[29]

Other settlements[]

Places of interest[]

• Bothwell Castle
• Calderglen Country Park, East Kilbride
• Chatelherault Country Park, Hamilton, including Cadzow Castle
• Clyde Valley
• Craignethan Castle
• David Livingstone Centre, Blantyre
• Dollan Aqua Centre, East Kilbride
• Falls of Clyde
• Hamilton Mausoleum
• James Hamilton Heritage Park, East Kilbride
• John Hastie Museum, Strathaven
• Lanark Loch
• Little Sparta, near Dunsyre near Lanark
• Low Parks Museum, Hamilton
• New Lanark, a World Heritage Site
• Rutherglen Town Hall and medieval church tower
• Sites of the Battle of Drumclog and the Battle of Bothwell Bridge
• Strathaven Castle
• Wilsontown Ironworks

Tertiary education[]

• South Lanarkshire College
• University of the West of Scotland (formerly Bell College, University Of Paisley)

See also[]

• List of Category A listed buildings in South Lanarkshire
• Routes To Work South
• Scheduled monuments in South Lanarkshire

References[]

External links[]

• South Lanarkshire Council homepage
• South Lanarkshire at Curlie