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Strathclyde Srath Chluaidh
Former Region
Flag
Area
1,350,283 hectares (3,336,620 acres)
Population
c. 2,286,800
History
• Origin	Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973
• Created	16 May 1975
• Abolished	31 March 1996
• Succeeded by	Argyll and Bute East Ayrshire East Dunbartonshire East Renfrewshire Glasgow City Council Inverclyde North Ayrshire North Lanarkshire Renfrewshire South Ayrshire South Lanarkshire West Dunbartonshire
Government	Strathclyde Regional Council
• Type	Regional Council
• HQ	Strathclyde House, India Street, Glasgow

Strathclyde (Ystrad Clud in Northern Brittonic; Srath Chluaidh [s̪t̪ɾa ˈxl̪ˠɯi] in Gaelic, meaning 'strath of the River Clyde') was one of nine former local government regions of Scotland created in 1975 by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 and abolished in 1996 by the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994. The Strathclyde region had 19 districts. The region was named after the early medieval Kingdom of Strathclyde centred on Govan, but covered a broader geographic area than its namesake.

History

The Strathclyde region was created in 1975 under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, which established a two-tier structure of local government across Scotland comprising upper-tier regions and lower-tier districts. Strathclyde covered the whole area of six counties and parts of another two, which were all abolished for local government purposes at the same time:

• Argyll (except Ardnamurchan District and the electoral divisions of Ballachulish and Kinlochleven)
• Ayrshire
• Buteshire
• Dunbartonshire
• Glasgow
• Lanarkshire
• Renfrewshire
• Stirlingshire (part, being the burgh of Kilsyth, Western No. 3 District, the electoral division of Kilsyth West, and the polling district of Kilsyth East (Banton))

The region was named after the ancient British or Brythonic Damnonii Kingdom of Strathclyde. The kingdom had broadly covered the southern part of the local government region created in 1975, thus with the Argyll and Buteshire parts not having been within the ancient kingdom. Conversely, the kingdom had included areas further to the south, which were never part of the post-1975 Strathclyde (Dumfries and Galloway, as well as Cumbria in England).

Strathclyde Regional Council was responsible for education, social work, police, fire, sewage, strategic planning, roads, and transport. It employed almost 100,000 public servants, almost half of whom were teachers, lecturers and others in the education service.

Strathclyde region was abolished in 1996 under the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 which replaced regions and districts with unitary council areas. The region was divided into twelve council areas: Argyll and Bute, East Ayrshire, East Dunbartonshire, East Renfrewshire, Glasgow City (created as City of Glasgow), Inverclyde, North Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire, South Ayrshire, South Lanarkshire, and West Dunbartonshire (created as Dumbarton and Clydebank)

Geography

The Strathclyde region was on the west coast of Scotland and stretched from the Highlands in the north to the Southern Uplands in the south. It included some of the Inner Hebrides in the north-west but also contained Scotland's largest urban area of Glasgow. As a local government region, its population, in excess of 2.5 million, was by far the largest of the regions and contained half of the population of Scotland.

Political control

Politics in the region were dominated by the Labour Party. The first regional council convener was the Reverend Geoff Shaw, who died in 1978. It was largely due to his leadership that the regional council forged its innovative strategy on multiple deprivation, which remained its central commitment to the end of the region's life through "Social Strategy for the Eighties" (1982) and "SS for the 90s".

The first election to Strathclyde Regional Council was held in 1974, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until the new system came into force on 16 May 1975. Throughout the council's existence Labour held a majority of the seats:

Leadership

The council had two main leadership roles: a convener who acted as ceremonial head and presided at council meetings, and a leader of the council to provide political leadership.

Conveners

Leaders

Elections

Elections were held every four years.

1. Liberals prior to 1988.

District result maps

• 1982 results map
• 1986 results map
• 1990 results map
• 1994 results map

Premises

The council initially rented offices called Melrose House at 19 Cadogan Street in Glasgow to act as an interim headquarters pending a decision being taken on a permanent headquarters. Various other offices around the centre of Glasgow were also used for additional office space, notably on India Street (the Glasgow City Chambers was not used by the regional administration and was instead the headquarters for the Glasgow district). In 1976, the nearby former Glasgow High School buildings at 94 Elmbank Street were vacated. The council converted the former school buildings to become its headquarters, using the school's dining room block of 1897 to become a council chamber, whilst using the India Street offices as additional accommodation. The remodelled school and neighbouring offices were formally opened by Elizabeth II on 2 November 1979, when the whole complex of eleven buildings was collectively renamed "Strathclyde House".

After the council's abolition several of the modern office buildings which made up Strathclyde House were gradually sold off for redevelopment. The old High School buildings, which are category A listed buildings, were used by Glasgow City Council as additional office space. The council chamber there was briefly used in 2000 by the Scottish Parliament, whilst its new permanent home at Holyrood was under construction and the temporary buildings in Edinburgh were booked out. Glasgow City Council sold the old High School buildings in 2010 but a new use has yet to be found for them.

Emergency services

Until April 2013, the area was also used as a police force area, covered by Strathclyde Police, and a fire service area, covered by Strathclyde Fire and Rescue Service. Both have now been replaced by single services (Police Scotland and Scottish Fire and Rescue Service).

Transport

The name is still in use as a transport area, covered by Strathclyde Partnership for Transport. The area covered by SPT however is smaller than the region, as most of Argyll and Bute lies outside its remit.

Sub-regions and districts

Except for Argyll and Bute and the City of Glasgow, the 19 districts were grouped to form 'sub-regions' or 'divisions', each named after a historic county. The Argyll and Bute district and the City of Glasgow district were sub-regions in their own right, and Argyll and Bute was named after two counties.

Successor Council Areas

See also

• Glasgow (European Parliament constituency)
• Strathclyde East (European Parliament constituency)
• Strathclyde West (European Parliament constituency)
• Strathclyde Park, in Motherwell, created during the era
• University of Strathclyde, in Glasgow

References

1. "Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 1973 c. 65, retrieved 3 January 2023
2. "New Local Government areas". Hansard. 22 October 1973. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
3. Irene Maver. "Modern Times: 1950s to The Present Day > Neighbourhoods". The Glasgow Story. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
4. "Scotland's Landscape: City of Glasgow". BBC. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
5. A cry of 'Gerrymander' as Strathclyde is axed, The Independent, 18 July 1993
6. Region hands over reins after 21 years, The Herald, 18 March 1996
7. "Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 1994 c. 39, retrieved 3 January 2023
8. Strathclyde, Undiscovered Scotland
9. "key papers". publicadminreform.
10. ^ "Compositions calculator". The Elections Centre. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
11. "The Strathclyde Region (Electoral Arrangements) Order 1993", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 1993/2439, retrieved 5 January 2023
12. "No. 22413". The Edinburgh Gazette. 2 September 1988. p. 1325.
13. "They'll meet the Queen". Wishaw Press. 2 November 1979. p. 1. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
14. "Regional Convenor sends his message". Wishaw Press. 28 December 1979. p. 1. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
15. "Property Services Committee minutes, 6 May 1998". Glasgow City Council. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
16. Final stage of demolition of Strathclyde Regional Council HQ begins, Evening Times, 10 March 2015
17. "Site of former Nye Bevan House in Glasgow up for sale". Insider.co.uk. 21 September 2022. Retrieved 27 December 2022.
18. Historic Environment Scotland. "120, Elmbank Street with 71-83 (odds) Holland Street and Lodges, 59, 61 Holland Street, gates and retaining walls (Category A Listed Building) (LB33022)". Retrieved 5 January 2023.
19. "High School building". The Glasgow Story. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
20. "Glasgow's miles better for parliament". BBC News. 13 January 2000. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
21. Burns, Hamish (11 November 2019). "Grade A-listed former school is on the market with hotel and offices potential". insider.co.uk. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
22. "No. 20746". The Edinburgh Gazette. 8 August 1980. p. 980.
23. Various district names are not those given in the 1973 Act, but were chosen, under the same act, by the district councils themselves soon after their creation
24. People power kept the heart of a burgh beating, Daily Record, 19 April 2021

External links

• Media related to Strathclyde at Wikimedia Commons

v t e Local government areas of Scotland, in use 1975 to 1996
Borders	Berwickshire Ettrick and Lauderdale Roxburgh Tweeddale
Central Region	Clackmannan Falkirk Stirling
Dumfries and Galloway	Annandale and Eskdale Nithsdale Stewartry Wigtown
Fife	Dunfermline Kirkcaldy North East Fife
Grampian	Aberdeen Banff and Buchan Gordon Kincardine and Deeside Moray
Highland	Badenoch and Strathspey Caithness Inverness Lochaber Nairn Ross and Cromarty Skye and Lochalsh Sutherland
Lothian	East Lothian Edinburgh Midlothian West Lothian
Strathclyde	Argyll and Bute Bearsden and Milngavie Strathkelvin Clydebank Cumbernauld and Kilsyth Cumnock and Doon Valley Cunninghame Dumbarton East Kilbride Eastwood Glasgow Hamilton Inverclyde Kilmarnock and Loudoun Kyle and Carrick Clydesdale Monklands Motherwell Renfrew
Tayside	Angus Dundee Perth and Kinross
Island areas	Orkney Shetland Western Isles
The island areas were unitary authorities, combining the powers of a region and a district.

55°44′N 5°02′W / 55.733°N 5.033°W / 55.733; -5.033

• Regions of Scotland
• 1996 disestablishments in Scotland
• 1975 establishments in Scotland
• States and territories disestablished in 1996
• States and territories established in 1975
• Politics of Glasgow
• Politics of South Lanarkshire
• Politics of West Dunbartonshire
• Politics of North Lanarkshire
• Politics of Renfrewshire
• Politics of East Renfrewshire
• Politics of East Dunbartonshire
• Politics of Argyll and Bute
• Politics of Inverclyde
• Politics of North Ayrshire
• Politics of East Ayrshire
• Politics of South Ayrshire
• Strathclyde
• Organisations based in Glasgow