East Dunbartonshire (; , ) 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.

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.

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.

In a 2007 Reader's Digest poll, East Dunbartonshire was voted the best place in Britain to raise a family. The area has generally performed well in the Halifax Quality of Life survey; in 2010 it was ranked third in Scotland, and it was the only Scottish area in the British Top 20 in 2008. 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.

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.

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.[https://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/webapi/opentable?id=019a2022-ecdd-77ea-96ad-569f0c5b3786

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):

Baldernock* Bearsden East* Bearsden North* Bearsden West* Bishopbriggs* Campsie* Kirkintilloch* Lenzie* Milngavie* Milton of Campsie* Torrance* Twechar Waterside*

Governance

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.

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: (Put "East Dunbartonshire" in search box to see specific results.)

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. The leaders of East Dunbartonshire Council since 1996 have been:

Councillor Party From To Notes Charles Kennedy 1 Apr 1996 Oct 1999 Keith Moody Oct 1999 2003 John Morrison 8 May 2003 May 2007 Rhondda Geekie 17 May 2007 May 2017 Gordan Low 23 May 2017 21 Dec 2017 Vaughan Moody 20 Mar 2018 May 2022 Co-leaders Andrew Polson Gordan Low 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:

Party Councillors 8 5 4 2 3Total22

The next election is due in 2027.

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. Tom Johnston House was demolished in 2015. The new council chamber at Strathkelvin Place is called Tom Johnston Chamber.

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:

YearSeatsSNPLiberal DemocratsLabourConservativeIndependent / OtherNotes 1995 26 0 9 15 2 0 1999 24 1 10 10 3 0 New ward boundaries. 2003 24 0 12 9 3 0 2007 24 8 3 6 5 2New ward boundaries. 2012 24 8 3 8 2 3 2017 22 7 6 2 6 1 Source. New ward boundaries. 2022 22 8 6 4 3 1 Source.

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:Council Area East Dunbartonshire, Scottish Government Statistics. Retrieved 21 April 2022

#Ward NameLocationSeatsPopulation (2020)1Milngavie313,5722Bearsden North314,9433Bearsden South313,3184Bishopbriggs North and Campsie419,3235Bishopbriggs South315,8686Kirkintilloch East and North and Twechar318,2517Lenzie and Kirkintilloch South313,475

Settlements

Largest settlements by population: +SettlementPopulation ()BearsdenBishopbriggsKirkintillochMilngavieLenzieLennoxtownMilton of CampsieTorranceTwechar

Places of interest Campsie Fells West Highland Way Forth and Clyde Canal Antonine Wall Mugdock Country Park Milngavie water treatment works River Kelvin Lillie Art Gallery Auld Kirk Museum Huntershill Village The Fort Theatre The Turret Theatre The Gadloch

Education There are 8 secondary schools and 33 primary schools in the area. The secondary schools are: Bearsden Academy, Bearsden Bishopbriggs Academy, Bishopbriggs Boclair Academy, Bearsden Douglas Academy, Milngavie Kirkintilloch High School, Kirkintilloch Lenzie Academy, Lenzie St Ninian's High School, Kirkintilloch Turnbull High School, Bishopbriggs

References

External links

MPs representing East Dunbartonshire (Constituency) - MPs and Lords Huntershill Village website