Falkirk (council Area)

Falkirk (council Area)

Coordinates: 56°00′04″N 3°47′02″W / 56.001°N 3.784°W / 56.001; -3.784

Falkirk (Scots: Fawkirk, Scottish Gaelic: An Eaglais Bhreac) is one of the 32 unitary authority council areas in Scotland. It borders onto North Lanarkshire to the south west, Stirling to the north west, West Lothian to the south east and, across the Firth of Forth to the north east, Fife and Clackmannanshire. The council area was formed on 1 April 1996 from the exact boundaries of Falkirk District Council by way of the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994. Prior to 1975 the majority of the council area was part of the county of Stirlingshire and a small part, namely Bo'ness and Blackness, was part of the former county of West Lothian.

From 2003–2007 the Council was led by an SNP/Independent coalition, but after the 2007 elections a Labour/Ind coalition of 16 councillors equalled the SNP/ Tory/ Independent 16, so a pack of cards was cut. Labour's card was higher than the SNP's. To form a stable administration Labour then formed a coalition with the 4 members of the Conservative and Independent Partnership. This Labour/Conservative /Independent coalition hold 18 seats compared to the 13 SNP and 1 non-aligned Independent. The leader of the administration is Councillor Craig Martin.