West Dunbartonshire (Scots: Wast Dunbairtonshire; Scottish Gaelic: Siorrachd Dhùn Breatann an Iar, pronounced [ˈʃirˠəxk ɣum ˈpɾʲɛht̪ən̪ˠ əɲ ˈiəɾ]) is one of the 32 local government council areas of Scotland. The area lies to the north-west of the Glasgow City council area and contains many of Glasgow's commuter towns and villages. West Dunbartonshire also borders Argyll and Bute, East Dunbartonshire, Renfrewshire and Stirling.

The council area was formed in 1996 from the former Clydebank district and the eastern part of Dumbarton district, which had both been part of Strathclyde Region.

West Dunbartonshire has three main urban areas: Clydebank, Dumbarton and the Vale of Leven. The area also includes the intervening rural areas, including the Kilpatrick Hills and the south-eastern bank of Loch Lomond. The council is based at 16 Church Street in Dumbarton, although Clydebank is the largest town.

West Dunbartonshire was created in 1996 under the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994, which abolished the regions and districts which had been created in 1975, replacing them with unitary council areas. West Dunbartonshire covered the area of the abolished Clydebank district and the eastern part of Dumbarton district. In a referendum in 1994 the largely rural western part of the old Dumbarton district, including the town of Helensburgh, had voted to join Argyll and Bute rather than stay with Dumbarton.

The 1994 act originally named the new district "Dumbarton and Clydebank", but the shadow authority elected in 1995 requested a change of name to "West Dunbartonshire", which was agreed by the government before the new council area came into force.

The area is divided into 17 community council areas, 10 of which have community councils as at 2023 (being those with asterisks in the list below):

West Dunbartonshire
Leadership
Provost	Karen Murray Conaghan, SNP since 28 August 2024
Leader	Martin Rooney, Labour since 18 May 2022
Chief Executive	Peter Hessett since 2022
Structure
Seats	22 councillors
Political groups	Administration (10)   Labour (10) Other parties (12)   SNP (7)   Independent (4)   WDCP (1)
Elections
Voting system	Single transferable vote
Last election	5 May 2022
Next election	6 May 2027
Meeting place
Burgh Hall, 16 Church Street, Dumbarton, G82 1QL
Website
www.west-dunbarton.gov.uk

The council comprises 22 councillors elected from 6 wards.

The first election was held in 1995, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until the new system came into force on 1 April 1996. Political control of West Dunbartonshire Council since 1996 has been as follows:

Party in control		Years
	Labour	1996–2007
	No overall control	2007–2012
	Labour	2012–2017
	No overall control	2017–2022
	Labour	2022–2022
	No overall control	2022–2024
	Labour	2024–2024
	No overall control	2024-present

The leaders of the council since 1996 have been:

Councillor	Party		From	To
Mary Campbell		Labour	1 Apr 1996	Jun 1997
Andy White		Labour	Jun 1997	20 Dec 2006
Martin Rooney		Labour	20 Dec 2006	12 Mar 2007
Denis Agnew		Independent	12 Mar 2007	May 2007
Iain Robertson		SNP	16 May 2007	26 May 2010
Ronnie McColl		SNP	26 May 2010	3 May 2012
Martin Rooney		Labour	16 May 2012	May 2017
Jonathan McColl		SNP	17 May 2017	May 2022
Martin Rooney		Labour	18 May 2022

Following the 2022 election and subsequent by-elections and changes of allegiance up to August 2024, the composition of the council was:

Party		Councillors
	Labour	10
	Scottish National Party	7
	Independent	4
	West Dunbartonshire Community Party	1
Total		22

The next election is due in 2027.

The council is based at the former Burgh Hall at 16 Church Street in Dumbarton. It also has an area office in the main shopping centre in Clydebank.

When the council was created in 1996, it inherited several buildings from its predecessors, including Municipal Buildings and Crosslet House from Dumbarton District Council, Clydebank Town Hall and the nearby Council Offices on Rosebery Place from Clydebank District Council, and the County Buildings, Dumbarton from Strathclyde Regional Council.

The council gradually consolidated its offices, with Crosslet House being demolished in 2015, the Rosebery Place offices being demolished in 2017, and the County Buildings being demolished in 2019.

In 2018 the council consolidated most of its offices to Burgh Hall, which had been vacant for some years. The front part of the 1866 building was retained and a modern office complex built to the rear. The Municipal Buildings in Dumbarton are still used by the council as a register office, whilst Clydebank Town Hall is now primarily an events venue.

Since 2007 elections have been held every five years under the single transferable vote system, introduced by the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004. Election results since 1995 have been as follows:

Year	Seats	Labour	SNP	Conservative	Independent / Other	Notes
1995	22	14	7	0	1
1999	22	14	7	0	1	New ward boundaries.
2003	22	17	3	0	2
2007	22	10	9	0	3	New ward boundaries.
2012	22	12	6	0	4
2017	22	8	10	2	2	New ward boundaries.
2022	22	12	9	0	1

Six multi-member wards were created for the 2007 election, replacing 22 single-member wards which had been in place since the creation of the council in 1995:

Ward number	Ward	Location	Largest settlement	Additional settlements	Seats
1	Lomond		Balloch	Gartocharn, Jamestown, Levenvale, Mill of Haldane	3
2	Leven		Alexandria	Bonhill, Dalmonach, Renton, Dumbarton (northern parts)	4
3	Dumbarton		Dumbarton	Milton, Bowling	4
4	Kilpatrick		Duntocher	Faifley, Hardgate	3
5	Clydebank Central		Clydebank		4
6	Clydebank Waterfront		Clydebank	Old Kilpatrick	4

On 18 September 2014, West Dunbartonshire was one of the four council areas which had a majority "Yes" vote in the Scottish Independence Referendum at 54% with an 87.9% turnout rate.