Kirkcaldy - Governance

Governance

Further information: History of local government in Scotland

During the middle of the 15th century, the passing of feu-ferme status meant the town was able to deal with its own administrative issues and fiscal policies for the first time. The first mention of a town council was made around 1582. The head courts of the burghs met either in the common muir (now known as Volunteers' Green) or the Tolbooth on Tolbooth Street, particularly in the summer months. When Kirkcaldy was awarded royal burgh status in 1644, the duties of the provost were initially completed by bailies, councillors, and magistrates. The first Lord Provost, Robert Whyt, was elected to the post around 1658. The burgh was one of four in Scotland to use two coats of arms, introduced in 1673. One bears the motto Vigilando Munio ("I Stand by Watching"), and the other displays the figure of St Bryce, Kirkcaldy's patron saint.

Kirkcaldy enjoyed royal burgh status until this rank was abolished in 1975 under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, in favour of a three-tier system of regions and districts. The royal burgh merged into Kirkcaldy District, which was one of three districts within the Fife region. The district council was abolished in 1996 under the Local Government etc (Scotland) Act 1994 when the region became a unitary council area. The new unitary Fife Council adopted the areas of the former districts as council management areas and created area committees to represent each.

Kirkcaldy is represented by several tiers of elected government. Kirkcaldy North Community Council and Kirkcaldy West Community Council together form the lowest tier, whose statutory role is to communicate local opinion to local and central government. Fife Council, based in Glenrothes, the unitary local authority for Kirkcaldy, is the executive, deliberative, and legislative body responsible for local governance. Kirkcaldy Town House is the main administrative headquarters for the Kirkcaldy area within the local authority. The Kirkcaldy area also sends eleven councillors, elected from three wards, to Fife Council. Beyond the tiers of local government, the Scottish Parliament is responsible for devolved matters from the Parliament of the United Kingdom, such as education, health, and justice.

The first Member of Parliament to be elected to the House of Commons from Kirkcaldy was Colonel Abercrombie in 1710. Prior to the Act of Union in 1707, Kirkcaldy sent a Member of Parliament to the old Scottish Parliament, which usually met in Edinburgh. Kirkcaldy was represented by the constituency of Dysart Burghs from 1707 to 1832, which was formed from the burgh itself and three other burghs, Dysart, Kinghorn, and Burntisland. Under the Reform Act of 1832, the constituency of Kirkcaldy Burghs was created. Robert Ferguson of Raith was re-elected as Member of Parliament. Kirkcaldy forms part of the county constituency of Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath, electing one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom by the first past the post system. Gordon Brown of the Labour Party is the Member of Parliament for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath.

Kirkcaldy forms part of the Kirkcaldy constituency of the Scottish Parliament (or Holyrood), and is one of nine within the Mid Scotland and Fife electoral region. Each constituency elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament by the first–past–the–post system of election, and the region elects seven additional members to produce a form of proportional representation. The Kirkcaldy seat was won at the 2011 Scottish Parliament elections by David Torrance for the Scottish National Party (SNP). Following a review of the review of Scottish Parliament constituency boundaries, the Kirkcaldy constituency was extended along the coast, taking in the Buckhaven, Methil, and Wemyss Villages ward, ahead of the 2011 elections. Kirkcaldy is part of the pan-Scotland European Parliament constituency, which elects seven Members of the European Parliament (MEPs).