Fife Council

{{Short description|Scottish unitary authority council in Fife, Scotland}}

{{Infobox legislature

| name = Fife Council

| legislature = Full council election every 5 years.

| coa_pic = Coat of Arms of the Fife Area Council.svg

| coa_caption = Coat of arms

| coa_res =

| coa_alt =

| logo_pic = Fife Council logo.svg

| logo_caption = Council logo

| foundation =

| house_type = Unitary authority

| leader1_type = Provost

| leader1 = Jim Leishman

| party1 =
Labour

| election1 = 17 May 2012

| leader2_type = Leader

| leader2 = David Ross

| party2 =
Labour

| election2 = 20 February 2014{{efn|Joint leader with David Alexander of SNP between 2017 and 2022}}

| leader3_type = Chief Executive

| leader3 = Ken Gourlay

| party3 =

| election3 = July 2023{{cite web |title=Fife Council appoints new CEO |url=https://www.fife.gov.uk/news/2023/fife-council-appoints-new-ceo |website=Fife Council |access-date=16 July 2023}}

| members = 75

| structure1 = United_Kingdom_Fife_Council_2024.svg

| structure1_res = 280

| structure1_alt = Fife Council composition

| political_groups1 =

Administration (19):

:{{Color box|{{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}|border=silver}} Labour (19)

Other parties (56):

:{{Color box|{{party color|Scottish National Party}}|border=silver}} SNP (34)

:{{nowrap|{{Color box|{{party color|Liberal Democrats (UK)}}|border=silver}} Liberal Democrats (13)}}

:{{Color box|{{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}|border=silver}} Conservatives (8)

:{{Color box|{{party color|Independent politician}}|border=silver}} Independent (1)

| voting_system1 = Single transferable vote

| last_election1 = 5 May 2022

| next_election1 = 6 May 2027

| meeting_place = Fife House, North Street, Glenrothes, KY7{{nbsp}}5LT

| session_room = Fife House, Glenrothes.jpg

| session_alt = Fife House, Glenrothes

| website = {{URL|www.fife.gov.uk}}

}}

Fife Council is the local authority for the Fife area of Scotland and is the third largest Scottish council by number of councillors, having 75 elected council members.{{cite news |url=http://www.citylocal.co.uk/Fife/news-in-Fife/fife-news-fife-welcomes-cllr-lizz-mogg-as-fife-deputy-provost-11106/ |title=Fife News : Fife Welcomes Cllr Lizz Mogg as Fife Deputy Provost |work=City Local |date=20 December 2007 |access-date=7 January 2017 }}{{Dead link|date=April 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

Councillors make decisions at its regular council meetings, or at those of its nine other general committees (covering for example tourism and transportation, education, environment, housing, licensing etc.), two planning committees, and seven area committees.{{cite web |title=Committees |url=https://www.fife.gov.uk/kb/docs/articles/about-your-council2/politicians-and-committees/committees |publisher=Fife Council |access-date=5 May 2022}}

The council has been under no overall control since 2003. Following the 2022 election the Scottish National Party were the largest group on the council, but a minority Labour administration was formed with informal support from the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives.

A Provost of Fife is elected from among the councillors every five years, who chairs the full council meetings and acts as ceremonial head of the council.{{cite web |url=https://www.fifedirect.org.uk/topics/index.cfm?fuseaction=page.display&p2sid=5DC7F26B-C779-6907-9C8F1DA18532521D&themeid=2B892409-722D-4F61-B1CC-7DE81CC06A90 |title=The Provost and his role |access-date=6 January 2018 |publisher=Fife Council }}{{Dead link|date=April 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} The current Provost is former football manager Jim Leishman MBE, who was first elected to the post in May 2012 and subsequently re-elected in 2017 and 2022.{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-18102491 |title=Jim Leishman elected as Fife's provost |date=17 May 2012 |access-date=6 January 2018 |work=BBC News }} Political leadership is provided by the leader of the council, with the current leader being Labour councillor David Ross, who has been leader since 2014, being co-leader with David Alexander of the SNP between 2017 and 2022 when he became sole leader again.

History

Fife was one of Scotland's historic counties, with a Fife County Council existing from 1890 to 1975. In 1975 Fife became a region with three lower-tier district councils: Dunfermline, Kirkcaldy, and North-East Fife.{{cite legislation UK|type=act|act=Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973|year=1973|chapter=65|accessdate=17 April 2023}} Fife Regional Council and the three district councils were merged in 1996 to form a single council area, governed by Fife Council.{{cite legislation UK|type=act|act=Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994|year=1994|chapter=39|accessdate=21 April 2023}}

Political control

The first election to Fife 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. A shadow authority was again elected in 1995 ahead of the change to council areas which came into force on 1 April 1996. Political control since 1975 has been as follows:{{cite web |title=Compositions calculator |url=https://www.electionscentre.co.uk/?page_id=3825 |website=The Elections Centre |access-date=21 April 2023}}

Fife Regional Council

colspan="2"\|Party in control	Years
class="wikitable"
{{Party name with colour\|Scottish Labour}}	1975–1996

Fife Council

colspan="2"\|Party in control	Years
class="wikitable"
{{Party name with colour\|Scottish Labour}}	1996–2003
{{Party name with colour\|No overall control}}	2003–present

=Leadership=

The leaders of the council since 1996 have been:{{cite web |title=Council minutes |url=https://www.fife.gov.uk/kb/docs/articles/about-your-council2/politicians-and-committees/committees |website=Fife Council |access-date=21 April 2023}}{{cite web |title=Council Leader |url=https://www.fife.gov.uk/kb/docs/articles/about-your-council2/politicians-and-committees/your-local-councillors/council-leader,-provost-and-lord-lieutenant |website=Fife Council |access-date=21 April 2023}}

class=wikitable ! Councillor !! colspan=2\|Party !! From !! To !! Notes
Alex Rowley	{{party name with colour\|Scottish Labour}}	align=right\|1 April 1996	align=right\|1998
Christine May	{{party name with colour\|Scottish Labour}}	align=right\|1998	align=right\|2003
Anne McGovern	{{party name with colour\|Scottish Labour}}	align=right\|2003	align=right\|2007
Peter Grant	{{party name with colour\|Scottish National Party}}	align=right\|May 2007	align=right\|May 2012
Alex Rowley	{{party name with colour\|Scottish Labour}}	align=right\|May 2012	align=right\|20 Feb 2014
David Ross{{cite news \|title=David Ross lined up as new council leader \|url=https://www.centralfifetimes.com/news/13549907.david-ross-lined-up-as-new-council-leader/ \|access-date=21 April 2023 \|work=Central Fife Times \|date=31 January 2014}}	{{party name with colour\|Scottish Labour}}	align=right\|20 Feb 2014	align=right\|May 2017
David Alexander	{{party name with colour\|Scottish National Party}}	rowspan=2 align=right\|May 2017	rowspan=2 align=right\|May 2022	rowspan=2 align=left\|Co-leaders{{cite news \|title=Fife Council agree to SNP and Labour joint partnership \|url=https://www.dunfermlinepress.com/news/15294463.fife-council-agree-to-snp-and-labour-joint-partnership/ \|access-date=21 April 2023 \|work=Dunfermline Press \|date=18 May 2017}}
David Ross	{{party name with colour\|Scottish Labour}}
David Ross	{{party name with colour\|Scottish Labour}}	align=right\|19 May 2022	align=right\|

=Premises=

Fife Council is based at Fife House on North Street, Glenrothes. The building was built in 1969 for the Glenrothes Development Corporation, and became headquarters of Fife Regional Council on its creation in 1975. Prior to 1975 the old Fife County Council had been based at County Buildings, Cupar. Fife House passed to the new Fife Council on local government reorganisation in 1996.{{cite book|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=2TRWAAAAYAAJ|last=Ferguson |first=Keith |year=1982 |title=A New Town's Heritage: An Introduction to the Story of Glenrothes |edition=1st |publisher=Glenrothes Development Corporation|location=Glenrothes|page=91}}

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:

style="background-color: {{party color\|Scottish National Party}}; width: 3px;" \| !style="background-color: {{party color\|Scottish Labour}}; width: 3px;" \| !style="background-color: {{party color\|Scottish Liberal Democrats}}; width: 3px;" \| !style="background-color: {{party color\|Scottish Conservatives}}; width: 3px;" \| !style="background-color: {{party color\|Independent politician}}; width: 3px;" \|
class="wikitable" style=text-align:center !rowspan=2\|Year !rowspan=2\|Seats !width="80"\|SNP !width="80"\|Labour !width="80"\|Liberal Democrats !width="80"\|Conservative !width="80"\|Independent / Other !rowspan=2\|Notes
1995	92	9	54	25	0	4	align=left\|
1999	78	9	43	21	1	4	align=left\|New ward boundaries.{{cite legislation UK\|type=si\|si=The Fife (Electoral Arrangements) Order 1998\|year=1998\|number=3243\|accessdate=21 April 2023}}
2003	78	11	36	23	2	6	align=left\|
2007	78	23	24	21	5	5	align=left\|New ward boundaries.{{cite legislation Scotland\|type=ssi\|ssi=The Fife (Electoral Arrangements) Order 2006\|year=2006\|number=510\|accessdate=21 April 2023}}
2012	78	26	35	10	3	4	align=left\|
2017	75	29	24	7	15	0	align=left\|New ward boundaries.{{cite legislation Scotland\|type=ssi\|ssi=The Fife (Electoral Arrangements) Order 2016\|year=2016\|number=276\|accessdate=21 April 2023}}{{cite web \|url=http://www.parliament.scot/S5_Local_Gov/Inquiries/20161026_FifeCouncil_Submission.pdf \|title=Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland’s 5th Electoral Review \|access-date=6 January 2018 \|publisher=Scottish Government }}
2022	75	34	20	13	8	0	align=left\|
! !style="background-color: {{party color\|Scottish National Party}}; width: 3px;" \| !style="background-color: {{party color\|Scottish Labour}}; width: 3px;" \| !style="background-color: {{party color\|Scottish Liberal Democrats}}; width: 3px;" \| !style="background-color: {{party color\|Scottish Conservatives}}; width: 3px;" \| !style="background-color: {{party color\|Independent politician}}; width: 3px;" \| !

=Wards=

File:Fife UK ward map 2017 (blank).svg

class="sortable wikitable mw-datatable"

!Ward
number

! style="width:8em" | Ward !! class="unsortable" | Location in Fife

!Seats!! Largest settlement !! class="unsortable" style=width:16em | Other settlements