# Renfrewshire Council

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:
| Party in control | Years |
| Labour | 1996–2007 |
| No overall control | 2007–2012 |
| Labour | 2012–2017 |
| No overall control | 2017–present |

### Leadership

The leaders of the council since 1996 have been:
| Councillor | Party | From | To |
| Hugh Henry | Labour | 1 Apr 1996 | 1999 |
| Jim Harkins | Labour | 1999 | May 2007 |
| Derek Mackay | SNP | 17 May 2007 | May 2011 |
| Brian Lawson | SNP | 26 May 2011 | May 2012 |
| Mark MacMillan | Labour | 17 May 2012 | May 2017 |
| Iain Nicolson | SNP | 18 May 2017 | |

### Council composition

Following the 2022 election and subsequent changes of allegiance up to 7th March 2025, the composition of the council was:
| Party | Party | Councillors |
| | SNP | 20 |
| | Labour | 13 |
| | Independent | 4 |
| | Conservative | 3 |
| | Reform UK | 2 |
| | Liberal Democrats | 1 |
| Total | Total | 43 |
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. 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:
| Year | Seats | SNP | Labour | Conservative | Liberal Democrats | Independent / Other | Notes |
| 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:
| Ward number | Ward Name | Seats | Population (2020) |
| 1 | Renfrew North and Braehead | 4 | 17,827 |
| 2 | Renfrew South and Gallowhill | 3 | 12,232 |
| 3 | Paisley Northeast and Ralston | 3 | 12,810 |
| 4 | Paisley Northwest | 4 | 17,018 |
| 5 | Paisley East and Central | 3 | 12,218 |
| 6 | Paisley Southeast | 3 | 12,925 |
| 7 | Paisley Southwest | 4 | 16,505 |
| 8 | Johnstone South and Elderslie | 4 | 15,860 |
| 9 | Johnstone North, Kilbarchan, Howwood and Lochwinnoch | 4 | 14,740 |
| 10 | Houston, Crosslee and Linwood | 4 | 19,152 |
| 11 | Bishopton, Bridge of Weir and Langbank | 3 | 10,040 |
| 12 | Erskine and Inchinnan | 4 | 18,063 |