Fortissat is one of the twenty-one wards used to elect members of the North Lanarkshire Council.[1] Created in 2007, it originally returned three councillors; a 2017 national review resulted in no changes in the boundaries but an extra seat being added. The ward's territory covers the town of Shotts and surrounding areas (including Allanton, Bonkle, Harthill, Hartwood, Morningside and Salsburgh) with a population of 15,730 in 2019.[2]
| Election | Councillors | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Jim Robertson (Labour) | Charles Cefferty (Ind.) | Malcolm McMillan (SNP) | 3 seats | ||||
| 2012 | Thomas Cochrane (SNP, then Ind.) | |||||||
| 2017 | Martin McCulloch (Labour) | Kenneth Stevenson (Labour) | Sandy Thornton (Conservative) | |||||
| 2017 by- | Clare Quigley (Labour) | |||||||
| 2021 by- | Peter Kelly (Labour) | |||||||
| 2022 | Margaret Hughes (SNP) | John Jo Leckie (BUP) | ||||||
See main article: 2022 North Lanarkshire Council election.
Conservative candidate Sandy Thornton refused to sign his acceptance of office, resulting in the seat becoming vacant on 28 June 2017. A by-election took place on 7 September 2017 and was won by Clare Quigley of the Scottish Labour Party.[3] [4]
On 8 May 2018, councillor Tommy Cochrane resigned from the SNP and became an Independent, citing lack of SNP support in the area.[5] He resigned his seat on 18 March 2020 saying he was increasingly unable to manage personal and work commitments.[6] A by-election was held in 2021 (delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic in Scotland), won by Labour's Peter Kelly.
See main article: 2007 North Lanarkshire Council election.