Editing Inverness (section)

==Government==
{{See also|Politics of the Highland council area}}
[[File:Inverness - Highland Council Headquarters (geograph 5000272).jpg|thumb|right|Inverness is the [[administrative centre]] for the [[Highland Council]]]]
There are two tiers of local government covering Inverness. Most functions are provided by the [[Highland Council]], which is based in the city. There is also a lower tier of [[List of community council areas in Scotland|community councils]], with the urban area of Inverness straddling several communities.<ref>{{cite web |title=Community Councils |url=https://www.highland.gov.uk/info/772/politicians_elections_and_democracy/364/community_councils |website=The Highland Council |access-date=28 August 2024}}</ref>

===Administrative history===
From when it was made a [[royal burgh]] in the 12th century, Inverness was governed by the town council of the burgh until 1975. It was also the seat of the [[Sheriff of Inverness]], who had responsibility for administering justice across [[Inverness-shire]]. When elected county councils were introduced in 1890 under the [[Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889]], Inverness was considered large enough for its existing town council to provide county-level local government functions, and so it was excluded from the administrative area of Inverness-shire County Council.<ref>{{cite book |title=Guide to local government in parishes, counties and burghs |date=1892 |publisher=Royal College of Physicians |location=Edinburgh |pages=xxiii–xxx |url=https://archive.org/details/b21905678/page/n29/mode/2up |access-date=31 December 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=The County Council Magazine |date=1890 |publisher=F. Warne and Company |location=London |page=284 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nfAZAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA284 |access-date=31 December 2021 |chapter=Preparing for the elections in Scotland}}</ref>

Inverness was subsequently brought within the administrative area of the county council in 1930, but classed as a [[large burgh]], allowing the town council to continue to provide most local government services.<ref>{{cite web |title=Inverness Burgh |url=https://visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10360109 |website=A Vision of Britain through Time |publisher=GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth |access-date=28 August 2024}}</ref>

[[File:Inverness Town House (33621804338).jpg|thumb|left|[[Inverness Town House]], High Street, opened 1882]]
The burgh of Inverness was abolished in 1975 under the [[Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973]], which abolished Scotland's counties, burghs and [[landward district]]s and replaced them with a two-tier system of [[Local government areas of Scotland (1975–1996)|regions and districts]]. Inverness therefore became part of the larger [[Inverness (district)|Inverness district]], which was one of eight districts within the [[Highland (council area)|Highland region]]. The Inverness district covered the area of the former burgh plus an extensive rural area around the city, being the area of the two former landward districts of Inverness (covering the rural area generally east of [[Loch Ness]] and Inverness itself) and [[The Aird|Aird]] (covering the area generally west of Inverness and Loch Ness.<ref name=1973act>{{cite legislation UK|type=act|act=Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973|year=1973|chapter=65|accessdate=26 August 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Quarter-inch Administrative Areas Maps: Scotland, Sheet 4, 1969 |url=https://maps.nls.uk/view/222075461 |website=National Library of Scotland |publisher=Ordnance Survey |access-date=26 August 2024}}</ref> Inverness District Council was based at [[Inverness Town House]] on the High Street in the centre of Inverness, which had been completed in 1882 for the old Inverness Town Council.<ref>{{Historic Environment Scotland|num=LB35260|desc= High Street, Town House |access-date=26 August 2024}}</ref><ref>{{London Gazette|issue=23945|page=516|date=1 March 1996|city=e}}</ref>

The districts and regions created in 1975 were abolished in 1996, under the [[Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994]] and replaced with single-tier [[Council areas of Scotland|council areas]]. The Highland region became one of the new council areas.<ref>{{cite legislation UK|type=act|act=Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994|year=1994|chapter=39|accessdate=17 April 2023}}</ref>

The Highland Council has a number of [[area committee]]s for debating local matters. One of the committees is called the City of Inverness Area Committee, comprising the councillors who represent the wards which broadly correspond to the pre-1996 Inverness District.<ref>{{cite web |title=City of Inverness Area Committee |url=https://www.highland.gov.uk/info/20003/committee_information/490/city_of_inverness_area_committee_cia |website=The Highland Council |access-date=26 August 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Election Maps |url=https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/election-maps/gb/ |publisher=Ordnance Survey |access-date=25 August 2024}}</ref> The area committee choses one of its members to take the title of [[Provost of Inverness]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Provost and Leader amongst key roles selected for City of Inverness |url=https://www.highland.gov.uk/news/article/14606/provost_and_leader_amongst_key_roles_selected_for_city_of_inverness |website=The Highland Council |access-date=28 August 2024 |date=8 June 2022}}</ref>

===City status===
In 2001, [[City status in the United Kingdom|city status]] was granted to the "Town of Inverness", and [[letters patent]] were taken into the possession of the Highland Council by the convener of the Inverness area committee.<ref>[http://www.scotlandoffice.gov.uk/our-communications/release.php?id=2974 ''Helen Liddell joins Inverness celebrations as Scotland's Millennium City'', Scotland Office press release 19 March 2001] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928041004/http://www.scotlandoffice.gov.uk/our-communications/release.php?id=2974 |date=28 September 2007 }}</ref><ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/1076125.stm Inverness awarded city status] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031214030053/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/1076125.stm |date=14 December 2003 }}, BBC News, 18 December 2000.</ref>

These letters patent, which were sealed in March 2001 and are held by [[Inverness Museum and Art Gallery]],<ref>Ordnance Survey grid reference for Inverness Museum and Art Gallery: {{gbmappingsmall|NH666451}}</ref> create a city of Inverness, but do not refer to any defined boundaries for the city. In January 2008 a petition to matriculate [[coat of arms|armorial bearings]] for the City of Inverness was refused by [[Lord Lyon King of Arms]] on the grounds that there is no legal body (such as a council) to which arms for Inverness can be granted.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.inverness-courier.co.uk/News/Coat-of-arms-rejected-in-city-status-query-5000.htm |title=Coat of arms rejected in city status quer |work=The Inverness Courier |date=29 January 2008 |access-date=16 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131009041948/http://www.inverness-courier.co.uk/News/Coat-of-arms-rejected-in-city-status-query-5000.htm |archive-date=9 October 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Parliamentary representation===

There are two existing [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|parliament]]ary [[constituencies (UK)|constituencies]] with ''Inverness'' as an element in their names:
* One [[county constituency]] of the [[House of Commons (UK)|House of Commons]] of the [[Parliament of the United Kingdom]] ([[Palace of Westminster|Westminster]]):
** Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire (first established in 2024 and replacing the previous [[Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey (UK Parliament constituency)|Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey]], which existed between 2005 and 2019) currently represented by Angus MacDonald of the Scottish Liberal Democrats <ref>{{Cite news |title=Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire - General election results 2024 |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/election/2024/uk/constituencies/S14000094 |access-date=2024-07-06 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}}</ref>
* One constituency of the [[Scottish Parliament]] ([[Scottish Parliament Building|Holyrood]]), created in 2011:
** [[Inverness and Nairn (Scottish Parliament constituency)|Inverness and Nairn]], currently represented by [[Scottish National Party]] [[Member of the Scottish Parliament]] (MSP) [[Fergus Ewing]]<ref>[http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/msp/membersPages/fergus_ewing/index.htm ''Fergus Ewing MSP'', Scottish Parliament website] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070630023546/http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/msp/membersPages/fergus_ewing/index.htm |date=30 June 2007 }}. Retrieved 10 July 2007.</ref>

These existing constituencies are effectively subdivisions of the [[Highland (council area)|Highland]] [[Council areas of Scotland|council area]], but boundaries for Westminster elections are now very different from those for Holyrood elections. The Holyrood constituencies are also subdivisions of the [[Highlands and Islands (Scottish Parliament electoral region)|Highlands and Islands]] [[Scottish Parliament constituencies and regions|electoral region]].

Historically there have been six Westminster constituencies:
* One [[burgh constituency]]:
** [[Inverness Burghs]], 1708 to 1918
* Five county constituencies:
** [[Inverness-shire (UK Parliament constituency)|Inverness-shire]], 1708 to 1918
** [[Inverness (UK Parliament constituency)|Inverness]], 1918 to 1983
** [[Inverness, Nairn and Lochaber (UK Parliament constituency)|Inverness, Nairn and Lochaber]], 1983 to 1997
** [[Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber (UK Parliament constituency)|Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber]], 1997 to 2005
** [[Ross, Skye and Inverness West (UK Parliament constituency)|Ross, Skye and Inverness West]], 1997 to 2005

Inverness Burghs was a [[district of burghs constituency]], covering the [[parliamentary burgh]]s of Inverness, [[Fortrose]], [[Forres]], and [[Nairn]]. Inverness-shire covered, at least nominally, the [[county of Inverness]] minus the Inverness parliamentary burgh. As created in 1918, Inverness covered the county minus [[Outer Hebrides|Outer Hebridean]] areas, which were merged into the [[Western Isles (UK Parliament constituency)|Western Isles constituency]]. The Inverness constituency included the former parliamentary burgh of Inverness. As created in 1983, Inverness, Nairn and Lochaber was one of three constituencies covering the Highland [[Regions and districts of Scotland|region]], which had been created in 1975. As first used in 1997, the Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, and Ross, Skye and Inverness West constituencies were effectively two of three constituencies covering the Highland [[unitary council area]], which had been created in 1996.