Falkirk - Government and Politics

Government and Politics

Today, like all towns in Scotland, Falkirk has a well-defined structure of governance from local government down to representation at European Union (EU) level.

In terms of local government the town sits at the heart of Falkirk Council area, one of the 32 Unitary Authorities of Scotland formed by the Local Government etc (Scotland) Act 1994. The headquarters of the council are located in the Municipal Buildings, adjacent to Falkirk Town Hall, on West Bridge Street in the centre of town. The Council has been a Labour Party (UK) (LAB), independent and Conservative alliance since 2007. The current Leader of the Council is Cllr Craig Martin.

Falkirk is located within the Scottish parliamentary constituency of Falkirk West which elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) under the first past the post system. The current MSP is Michael Matheson, who won the 2007 Scottish Parliament General Election by a margin of just 3%, less than the number of spoilt ballot papers, narrowly defeating his rival, Dennis Goldie, former Provost and well known for his refusal to back the Labour Party's pro-gay rights stance. The previous MSP, Dennis Canavan, who sat as an Independent, was elected with the largest majority in the Scottish parliament representing Falkirk's electorate's displeasure with New Labour, but stepped down in 2007 for family reasons. Canavan, who announced in an open letter to his constituents in January 2007, that he was stepping down from representative politics at the Scottish Parliament election, 2007 has been an MSP or MP for the area for over 30 years. The constituency of Falkirk West also sits in the Central Scotland Scottish Parliament electoral region which returns seven MSPs under the additional member system used to elect Members of the Scottish Parliament.

Minor fringe parties (on both sides of the political spectrum) are relatively popular in Falkirk compared with the rest of Scotland. Parties right of the Conservative Party won 6.2% of the vote in Central Scotland in total (including the Scottish Christian Party, United Kingdom Independence Party and others). Left of Labour parties won 5.9% in total (including the Scottish Green Party, the Scottish Socialist Party, Solidarity and others). None of these parties won a seat, however. Five seats were won by the SNP, one by the Conservatives and one by the Liberal Democrats.

In the Parliament of the United Kingdom, the town is entirely contained within the UK parliamentary constituency of Falkirk which elects one member to the House of Commons under the plurality system. The constituency also takes in surrounding villages and is currently represented by the Labour Member of Parliament (MP) Eric Joyce. Traditionally, Falkirk has been seen as a stronghold for the Labour Party, but an SNP majority in the 2007 Scottish elections suggest a change of public opinion.

At EU level, Falkirk is part of the pan-Scotland European Parliament constituency which elects seven Members of the European Parliament (MEP)s using the d'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation. Currently, Scotland returns two Labour MEPs, two Conservative and Unionist MEPs, two SNP MEPs and one Liberal Democrat MEP, to the European Parliament.