Rutherglen Central and North (ward)

Rutherglen Central and North is one of the 20 electoral wards of South Lanarkshire Council. Created in 2007, the ward elects three councillors using the single transferable vote electoral system and covers an area with a population of 14,237 people.

Rutherglen Central and North
South Lanarkshire
Boundary of Rutherglen Central and North in South Lanarkshire from 2007–2017.
Population	14,237 (2021)[1]
Electorate	11,692 (2022)
Major settlements	Rutherglen (part of)
Scottish Parliament constituency	Rutherglen
Scottish Parliament region	Glasgow
UK Parliament constituency	Rutherglen
Current ward
Created	2007 (2007)
Number of councillors	3
Councillor	Martin Lennon (Labour)
Councillor	Janine Calikes (SNP)
Councillor	Andrea Cowan (SNP)
Created from	Bankhead Burgh Rutherglen West Stonelaw

The ward was previously a Labour stronghold with the party holding two of the three seats from 2007 to 2017 however, the ward has since swung to the Scottish National Party (SNP) who won two of the three seats at the 2022 election.

Boundaries

Rutherglen West Parish Church and the town's war memorial are among the landmarks in the ward

The ward was created following the Fourth Statutory Reviews of Electoral Arrangements ahead of the 2007 Scottish local elections. As a result of the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004, local elections in Scotland would use the single transferable vote electoral system from 2007 onwards so Rutherglen Central and North was formed from an amalgamation of several previous first-past-the-post wards. It contained the vast majority of the former Bankhead ward, all of the former Burgh and Rutherglen West wards as well as a small part of the former Stonelaw ward. Rutherglen North covers a suburban area in the north of Rutherglen – the northernmost part of South Lanarkshire – including the neighbourhoods of Burgh, Bankhead, Burnhill, Gallowflat and Farme Cross as well as the unpopulated Shawfield industrial area. The ward's northern and western boundary is the long-established division with Glasgow City Council, part of which runs along the River Clyde.^[2]

Prior to the local government reforms in the 1990s, Rutherglen was within the Glasgow District under Strathclyde Regional Council. One of its single-member wards was Rutherglen, which included much of the same area as the current Rutherglen Central and North, with the exception of the Burnhill and Newfield neighbourhoods and the addition of the parts of Burnside north of the Cathcart Circle Line railway tracks.^[3]

Following the Fifth Statutory Reviews of Electoral Arrangements ahead of the 2017 Scottish local elections, streets around Overtoun Park, Dryburgh Avenue and Limeside Avenue were transferred into the ward from Rutherglen South.^[4]

Councillors

Election	Councillors
2007		Edward McAvoy (Labour)		Denis McKenna (Labour)		Gordon Clark (SNP)
2012
2017	Gerard Killen (Labour)		Jared Wark (Conservative)	Janine Calikes (SNP)
2017 by-election	Martin Lennon (Labour)
2022			Andrea Cowan (SNP)

Election results

2022 election

Main article: 2022 South Lanarkshire Council election

Rutherglen Central and North - 3 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	Labour	Martin Lennon (incumbent)	24.5	1,245	1,270
	SNP	Janine Calikes (incumbent)	23.4	1,188	1,265	1,338
	SNP	Andrea Cowan	14.3	725	796	840	899	1,029	1,163
	Conservative	Libby Fox	12.0	609	612	730	730	881
	Labour	Jack McGinty	10.5	531	567	716	717
	Liberal Democrats	Gloria Adebo	10.2	517	544
	Scottish Green	Alex McRae	5.1	261
Electorate: 11,692   Valid: 5,076   Spoilt: 151   Quota: 1,270   Turnout: 44.7%

Source:^[5][6]

2017 by-election

Rutherglen Central and North by-election (23 November 2017) - 1 seat

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5
	Labour	Martin Lennon	38.5	1,173	1,176	1,203	1,270	1,541
	SNP	David Innes	27.4	836	838	870	884	989
	Liberal Democrats	Ellen Bryson	18.2	554	558	574	711
	Conservative	Taylor Muir	12.1	368	377	379
	Scottish Green	Brian Finlay	2.9	88	93
	UKIP	Janice MacKay	0.9	28
Electorate: 12,110   Valid: 3,047   Spoilt: 47   Quota: 1,524   Turnout: 25.5%

Source:^[7]

2017 election

Main article: 2017 South Lanarkshire Council election

Rutherglen Central and North - 3 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	SNP	Janine Calikes	29.0	1,492
	Labour	Gerard Killen (incumbent)[note 1]	25.5	1,313
	Conservative	Jared Wark	16.2	835	836	836	847	876	1,083	1,338
	SNP	Gordon Clark (incumbent)	10.5	538	719	720	828	881	968
	Liberal Democrats	Liz Keenan	9.3	478	482	483	524	603
	Labour	Martin Lennon	5.4	279	282	304	330
	Scottish Green	Raymond Burke	4.0	206	217	217
Electorate: 11,849   Valid: 5,141   Spoilt: 144   Quota: 1,286   Turnout: 44.6%

Source:^[8][9]

2012 election

Main article: 2012 South Lanarkshire Council election

Rutherglen Central and North - 3 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3
	Labour	Edward McAvoy (incumbent)	40.8	1,571
	SNP	Gordon Clark (incumbent)	23.4	902	928	974
	Labour	Denis McKenna (incumbent)	20.2	777	1,300
	Conservative	Jean Miller	5.2	200	205	219
	SNP	Michael Hanley	4.1	158	163	176
	Scottish Unionist	Jim Nixon	3.8	148	152	166
	Liberal Democrats	Tunweer Malik	2.5	97	104	128
Electorate: 10,280   Valid: 3,853   Spoilt: 113   Quota: 964   Turnout: 37.5%

Source:^[10]

2007 election

Main article: 2007 South Lanarkshire Council election

Rutherglen Central and North - 3 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
	Labour	Eddie McAvoy[note 2]	35.1	1,833
	SNP	Gordon Clark	22.9	1,198	1,233	1,273	1,286	1,355
	Labour	Denis McKenna[note 3]	15.0	786	1,162	1,180	1,191	1,221	???	???	???
	Liberal Democrats	Janette Little	12.7	666	692	702	721	781	???	???
	Conservative	Ian Raeburn	5.4	283	288	291	371	376	???
	Scottish Green	Susan Martin	3.4	176	182	210	216
	Scottish Unionist	Jim Nixon	3.0	157	159	162
	Scottish Socialist	John Starrs	2.4	126	129
Electorate: 10,867   Valid: 5,225   Quota: 1,307   Turnout: 49.1%

Source:^[11][12]

Notes

1. On 23 June 2017, Rutherglen Central and North Labour councillor Gerard Killen resigned his seat having been elected as MP for Rutherglen and Hamilton West. A by-election was held on 23 November 2017.
2. Returning councillor for Bankhead single-member ward.
3. Returning councillor for Rutherglen West single-member ward.