Falkirk (council area)

Falkirk (/ˈfɔːlkɜːrk/; Scots: Fawkirk; Scottish Gaelic: An Eaglais Bhreac) is one of 32 unitary authority council areas of Scotland. It was formed on 1 April 1996 by way of the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 from the exact boundaries of Falkirk District, one of three parts of the Central region created in 1975, which was abolished at that time. Prior to the 1975 reorganisation, the majority of the council area was part of the historic county of Stirlingshire, and a small part, namely Bo'ness and Blackness, was part of the former county of West Lothian.

Falkirk

Fawkirk
An Eaglais Bhreac
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
CountryScotland
Lieutenancy areaStirling and Falkirk
Admin HQFalkirk
Government
 • BodyFalkirk Council
 • ControlSNP minority (council NOC)
 • MPs
 • MSPs
Area
 • Total114.8 sq mi (297.4 km2)
Area rankRanked 22nd
Population
 (mid-2019 est.)
 • Total160,340
 • RankRanked 11th
 • Density1,400/sq mi (540/km2)
ONS codeS12000014
ISO 3166 codeGB-FAL
Websitewww.falkirk.gov.uk

The council area borders with North Lanarkshire, Stirling and West Lothian, and, across the Firth of Forth to the northeast, Clackmannanshire and Fife. The largest town, and the location of the council headquarters, is Falkirk; other settlements, most of which surround Falkirk within 6 miles (9.7 km) of its centre, include Bo'ness, Bonnybridge, Denny, Grangemouth, Larbert, Polmont, Shieldhill and Stenhousemuir.

The council is led by the SNP which gained 12 seats in the 2017 Council Election. The incumbent leader of is councillor Cecil Meiklejohn; the provost is Billy Buchanan and the deputy provost is Ann Ritchie.

Council political composition

Following the elections on 4 May 2017, the composition of Falkirk Council is as follows:[1]

Party Councillors
Scottish National Party 12
Labour 9
Conservative 7
Independent 2

Electoral wards

For the purposes of elections to Falkirk Council, the Falkirk area is divided geographically into a number of wards which then elect either three or four councillors each by the Single Transferable Vote system. The electoral system of local councils in Scotland is governed by the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004, an Act of the Scottish Parliament which first introduced proportional representation to councils. These electoral wards are as follows:

References
  1. "Local election results 2017 | Falkirk Council".
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