Renfrewshire Council () is the local authority for Renfrewshire, one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It consists of 43 councillors who elect from among their number a provost to serve as the council's convener and ceremonial head and a leader of the council who is typically the head of the largest political group. The council is based at Renfrewshire House in Paisley.

The council meets collectively as a full council and carries out a number of functions. Its scheme of delegated functions sets out where the council has agreed to allow powers to be exercised by a committee (referred to as a "board" in Renfrewshire Council), a sub-committee, an officer of the council or a joint committee with one or more other councils. The council continues to reserve a number of functions that can only be carried out by the council acting as a whole. The council's staff is headed by a chief executive who is responsible to the elected council.

Renfrewshire Council acts as the lead authority for Scotland Excel, a collaborative procurement vehicle established in 2008 to support the local authorities of Scotland.

Political control The council has been under no overall control since 2017. Following the 2022 election an SNP minority administration took control of the council with support from independent councillor Andy Doig on a confidence and supply basis.

The first election to Renfrewshire 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 "Renfrewshire" in search box to see specific results.)

Party in controlYears 1996–2007 2007–2012 2012–2017 2017–present

Leadership The role of provost is largely ceremonial in Renfrewshire. They chair full council meetings and act as the council's civic figurehead. Political leadership is provided by the leader of the council. The leaders since 1996 have been:

Councillor Party From To Hugh Henry 1 Apr 1996 May 1999 Jim Harkins May 1999 May 2007 Derek Mackay May 2007 May 2011 Brian Lawson 26 May 2011 May 2012 Mark MacMillan May 2012 May 2017 Iain Nicolson 18 May 2017

Council composition Following the 2022 election and subsequent changes of allegiance up to June 2025, the composition of the council was:

Party Councillors 20 12 3 3 1 4Total43

The next election is due in 2027.

Premises The council is based at Renfrewshire House on Cotton Street in Paisley, which was built between 1969 and 1973 as the "County and Municipal Buildings", being a joint facility for the old Renfrewshire County Council and Paisley Town Council.Glasgow Area Telephone Directory, October 1971, p. 709, Renfrewshire County Council, County Buildings, Cotton Street, Paisley After the reforms of 1975 the building was shared between Renfrew District Council and Strathclyde Regional Council. Following the creation of Renfrewshire Council in 1996 the building was renamed Renfrewshire House.

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:

YearSeatsSNPLabourConservativeLiberal DemocratsIndependent / OtherNotes 1995 40 13 22 2 3 0 1999 40 15 21 1 3 0 New ward boundaries. 2003 40 15 21 1 3 0 2007 40 17 17 2 4 0 New ward boundaries. 2012 40 15 22 1 1 1 2017 43 19 13 8 1 2 New ward boundaries. 2022 43 21 15 5 1 1

Electoral wards

For the purposes of elections to Renfrewshire Council, the Renfrewshire 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, which first introduced proportional representation to councils in Scotland.

These electoral wards, following a 2017 review and first used in the 2017 Renfrewshire Council election are as follows:Council Area Renfrewshire, Scottish Government Statistics. Retrieved 22 April 2022

Ward numberWard NameLocationSeatsPopulation (2020)1Renfrew North and Braehead417,8272Renfrew South and Gallowhill312,2323Paisley Northeast and Ralston312,8104Paisley Northwest417,0185Paisley East and Central312,2186Paisley Southeast312,9257 Paisley Southwest416,5058Johnstone South and Elderslie415,8609Johnstone North, Kilbarchan, Howwood and Lochwinnoch414,74010Houston, Crosslee and Linwood419,15211Bishopton, Bridge of Weir and Langbank310,04012Erskine and Inchinnan418,063

References