This article is about the Council area of Scotland. For the UK Parliament constituency, see East Dunbartonshire (UK Parliament constituency).
East Dunbartonshire
Council area
Coordinates55°56′N 4°13′W
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
CountryScotland
Lieutenancy areaDunbartonshire
Unitary authority1 April 1996
Administrative HQKirkintilloch
Governing bodyEast Dunbartonshire Council
Area rankSubdivisions of Scotland
Population rankSubdivisions of Scotland
Time zoneGMT (UTC+0)
Time zone (DST)BST (UTC+1)
Iso codeGB-EDU
GSS codeS12000045
Websiteeastdunbarton.gov.uk

East Dunbartonshire (sco: Aest Dunbartanshire; Scottish Gaelic: Siorrachd Dhùn Bhreatann an Ear, ˈʃirˠəxk ɣum ˈpɾʲɛht̪ən̪ˠ əɲ ˈɛɾ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders Glasgow City Council Area to the south, North Lanarkshire to the east, Stirling to the north, and West Dunbartonshire to the west. East Dunbartonshire contains many of the suburbs in the north of Greater Glasgow, including Bearsden, Milngavie, Bishopbriggs, Kirkintilloch, Lenzie, Twechar, Milton of Campsie, Balmore, and Torrance, as well as some other of Glasgow's commuter towns and villages. The council area covers parts of the historic counties of Dunbartonshire, Lanarkshire, and Stirlingshire.

The council area was formed in 1996, as a result of the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994, from the former Bearsden and Milngavie districts and most of the former Strathkelvin district, which had been part of the Strathclyde region.

History

East Dunbartonshire was created in 1996 under the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994, which abolished the regions and districts which had been created in 1975, replacing them with unitary council areas. East Dunbartonshire covered the area of the abolished Bearsden and Milngavie and Strathkelvin districts (except the Chryston and Auchinloch area from the latter, which went to North Lanarkshire). Both former districts had been in the Strathclyde region.[3]

Both of East Dunbartonshire's predecessor districts had been created in 1975 under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973. The Bearsden and Milngavie district had been created covering Milngavie, Bearsden and adjoining areas from Dunbartonshire. The Strathkelvin district had been created covering Kirkintilloch and adjoining areas from Dunbartonshire, Bishopbriggs and adjoining areas from Lanarkshire, and the parishes of Baldernock and Campsie from Stirlingshire.[4]

Demographics

East Dunbartonshire council area has low levels of deprivation, with relatively low unemployment and low levels of crime. The population is both declining and ageing.[5]

In a 2007 Reader's Digest poll, East Dunbartonshire was voted the best place in Britain to raise a family.[6] The area has generally performed well in the Halifax Quality of Life survey; in 2010 it was ranked third in Scotland,[7] and it was the only Scottish area in the British Top 20 in 2008.[8] A Legatum Prosperity Index published by the Legatum Institute in October 2016 showed East Dunbartonshire as the most prosperous council area in Scotland and the ninth most prosperous in the United Kingdom.[9]

Languages

The 2022 Scottish Census reported that out of 106,057 residents aged three and over, 25,685 (24.2%) considered themselves able to speak or read the Scots language.[10]

The 2022 Scottish Census reported that out of 106,061 residents aged three and over, 1,274 (1.2%) considered themselves able to speak or read Gaelic.[11]

Communities

The area is divided into thirteen community council areas, twelve of which have community councils as at 2023 (being those with asterisks in the list below):[12]

Governance

East Dunbartonshire
ProvostGillian Renwick
Party 1
SNP
Election 119 May 2022[1]
LeaderGordan Low
Party 2
SNP
Election 219 May 2022
Chief ExecutiveAnn Davie
Election 3January 2024[2]
Members22 councillors
Structure 1United Kingdom East Dunbartonshire Council 2026.svg
Structure1 res250px
Political groups 1
Administration (8)
SNP (8)
Other parties (14)
Labour (6)
Liberal Democrats (5)
Conservative (2)
Independents (1)
Voting system 1Single transferable vote
Last election 15 May 2022
Next election 16 May 2027
Session roomSouthbank Marina - geograph.org.uk - 3036373.jpg
Meeting place12 Strathkelvin Place, Kirkintilloch, G66 1XT
Websitewww.eastdunbarton.gov.uk

Political control

The council has been under no overall control since 1999. Following the 2022 election a Scottish National Party minority administration formed to run the council.[13]

The first election to East Dunbartonshire 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:[14]

Party in controlYears
1996–1999
1999–

Leadership

The role of provost is largely ceremonial in East Dunbartonshire. They chair full council meetings and act as the council's civic figurehead. Political leadership is provided by the leader of the council. The first leader, Charles Kennedy, had been the last leader of the old Strathkelvin District Council.[15] The leaders of East Dunbartonshire Council since 1996 have been:

CouncillorPartyFromToNotes
Charles Kennedy[15][16]1 Apr 1996Oct 1999
Keith Moody[16][17]Oct 19992003
John Morrison[18][19]8 May 2003May 2007
Rhondda Geekie[20][21][22]17 May 2007May 2017
Gordan Low[23][24][25]23 May 201721 Dec 2017
Vaughan Moody20 Mar 2018May 2022Co-leaders[26][27]
Andrew Polson
Gordan Low[1]19 May 2022

Composition

Following the 2022 election, and subsequent by-elections and changes of allegiance up to August 2025, the composition of the council was:[28][29]

PartyCouncillors
8
5
4
2
3
Total22

The next election is due in 2027.[29]

Premises

Since 2012 the council has been based at 12 Strathkelvin Place in Kirkintilloch, which forms part of the Southbank Marina development adjoining the Forth and Clyde Canal. Prior to 2012 the council was based at Tom Johnston House at the junction of Lenzie Road and Civic Way in Kirkintilloch. Tom Johnston House had been built in 1985 as the headquarters for the old Strathkelvin District Council and was named after Tom Johnston (1881–1965), who was born in Kirkintilloch and had served as Secretary of State for Scotland during the Second World War.[30] Tom Johnston House was demolished in 2015.[31] The new council chamber at Strathkelvin Place is called Tom Johnston Chamber.[32]

Elections

Main article: East Dunbartonshire Council elections

Since 2007 elections have been held every five years under the single transferable vote system, introduced by the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004. Election results since 1995 have been as follows:[14]

YearSeatsSNPLiberal DemocratsLabourConservativeIndependent / OtherNotes
199526091520
1999241101030New ward boundaries.[33]
200324012930
20072483652[a]New ward boundaries.[34]
20122483823[b]
20172276261Source.[35] New ward boundaries.[36]
20222286431Source.[37]
  1. ^ Both East Dunbartonshire Independent Alliance
  2. ^ Two being East Dunbartonshire Independent Alliance

Wards

Since 2007, the council (as with all others in Scotland) has been elected using multi-member wards, each returning three councillors using a single transferable vote system of proportional representation. Initially this retained the number of councillors at 24 following on from the same number of single-member wards in previous elections, divided equally across eight wards. However, a national boundary and population review prior to the 2017 Scottish local elections led to the number of East Dunbartonshire wards being reduced to seven and the number of councillors being reduced to 22. These current wards are:[38]

Ward NameLocationSeatsPopulation (2020)
1Milngavie313,572
2Bearsden North314,943
3Bearsden South313,318
4Bishopbriggs North and Campsie419,323
5Bishopbriggs South315,868
6Kirkintilloch East and North and Twechar318,251
7Lenzie and Kirkintilloch South313,475

Settlements

Largest settlements by population:

SettlementPopulation ()[39]
Bearsden
Bishopbriggs
Kirkintilloch
Milngavie
Lenzie
Lennoxtown
Milton of Campsie
Torrance
Twechar

Places of interest

Education

There are 8 secondary schools and 33 primary schools in the area.[40][41] The secondary schools are:

References

  1. ^ "Council minutes, 19 May 2022". East Dunbartonshire Council. Retrieved 25 August 2025.
  2. ^ "Ann Davie appointed as East Dunbartonshire's new Chief Executive". East Dunbartonshire Council. Archived from the original on 2024-07-30. Retrieved 30 July 2024.
  3. ^ "39" (act). 1994. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
  4. ^ "65" (act). 1973. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
  5. ^ Controller of Audit to the Accounts Commission (May 2009). "The Audit of Best Value and Community Planning - East Dunbartonshire Council". Scottish Government. Retrieved 3 May 2012.
  6. ^ "Scots areas top happy family poll". BBC News Online. 2007-04-18. Archived 2012-07-18 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2014-03-01.
  7. ^ "Aberdeenshire tops 'quality of life' list". BBC News Online. 2010-12-27. Archived 2012-07-30 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2014-03-01.
  8. ^ "East Dunbartonshire is only Scottish area in UK top 20 for 'quality of life'". The Scotsman. 2008-03-28. Archived from the original on 2012-07-15. Retrieved 2014-03-01.
  9. ^ Braiden, Gerry (2016-10-12). "Scots authority named amongst UK’s top 10 most prosperous – as neighbouring city props up table". The Herald. Archived 2025-07-17 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2025-07-17.
  10. ^ [1]
  11. ^ [https://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/webapi/opentable?id=019a2022-ecdd-77ea-96ad-569f0c5b3786
  12. ^ "Community Councils". East Dunbartonshire Council. Archived from the original on 2024-10-13. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
  13. ^ "Political composition". East Dunbartonshire Council. Retrieved 25 August 2025.
  14. ^ "Compositions Calculator". The Elections Centre. University of Exeter. Retrieved 21 May 2025. (Put "East Dunbartonshire" in search box to see specific results.)
  15. ^ "The changing face of Scotland". The Scotsman. 27 March 1996. p. 5. Retrieved 18 August 2025.
  16. ^ "Labour group ousted over budget Lib Dem and Tory pact". The Herald. 23 October 1999. Retrieved 25 August 2025.
  17. ^ "Report of the Child Protection Summit, 18 February 2003". Scottish Executive. p. 14. Retrieved 25 August 2025.
  18. ^ "New Council gets down to business". East Dunbartonshire Council. Archived 16 May 2007 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 25 August 2025.
  19. ^ "Former East Dunbartonshire Council Leader John Morrison dies following Glasgow city centre street assault". Huffington Post. 23 December 2012. Retrieved 25 August 2025.
  20. ^ "Rhondda Geekie to stand in East Dunbartonshire Council election". Glasgow World. 10 January 2017. Retrieved 25 August 2025.
  21. ^ "New coalition moves to bring back weekly bin collections". The Herald. Archived 29 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 22 May 2007.
  22. ^ "Change is in the air: East Dunbartonshire Council election results". Glasgow World. 5 May 2017. Retrieved 25 August 2025.
  23. ^ "Council minutes, 23 May 2017". East Dunbartonshire Council. Retrieved 25 August 2025.
  24. ^ "Council minutes, 21 December 2017". East Dunbartonshire Council. Retrieved 25 August 2025.
  25. ^ Learmonth, Andrew (23 December 2017). "SNP group 'had no choice' but to quit East Dunbartonshire council". The National. Retrieved 25 August 2025.
  26. ^ "Council minutes, 20 March 2018". East Dunbartonshire Council. Retrieved 25 August 2025.
  27. ^ North, Jessica (21 January 2022). "Scottish council elections 2022: Your guide to SNP cuts in every local authority". Scottish Daily Express. Retrieved 25 August 2025.
  28. ^ "Your Councillors". East Dunbartonshire Council. Archived 2025-07-16 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2025-07-16. – via Modern.Gov.
  29. ^ "East Dunbartonshire". Local Councils. Thorncliffe. Retrieved 25 August 2025.
  30. ^ "Strathkelvin District Council: Public Notice - Closure of Council Chambers, Kirkintilloch, and removal to new Civic Headquarters, Lenzie Road, Kirkintilloch". Airdrie and Coatbridge Advertiser. 19 July 1985. Retrieved 16 February 2023.
  31. ^ "Bulldozers move in to demolish landmark". Glasgow World. 3 November 2015. Retrieved 16 February 2023.
  32. ^ "Council agenda, 15 December 2022". East Dunbartonshire Council. Retrieved 16 February 2023.
  33. ^ No. 3245. 1998. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
  34. ^ No. 374. 2006. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
  35. ^ "Scottish Council Election – East Dunbartonshire results". East Dunbartonshire Council. 2017-05-05. Archived from the original on 2022-05-04. Retrieved 2025-07-17.
  36. ^ No. 272. 2016. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
  37. ^ "Local Government election results 2022". East Dunbartonshire Council. 2022. Archived from the original on 2024-10-16. Retrieved 2025-07-17.
  38. ^ Council Area | East Dunbartonshire, Scottish Government Statistics. Retrieved 21 April 2022
  39. ^
  40. ^ "Secondary Schools". East Dunbartonshire Council. Retrieved 16 February 2023.
  41. ^ "Primary Schools". East Dunbartonshire Council. Retrieved 16 February 2023.