The district was created in 1975 under the
Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, which established a two-tier structure of local government across mainland Scotland comprising upper-tier regions and lower-tier districts. Motherwell was one of nineteen districts created within the region of
Strathclyde. The district covered parts of three former districts from the
historic county of
Lanarkshire, all of which were abolished at the same time: •
Motherwell and
Wishaw Burgh • Sixth
District (except the
Bothwell and
Uddingston South, and Uddingston North electoral divisions, which went to
Hamilton) • Seventh District (except the
Shottskirk electoral division, which went to
Monklands) The district was named after its largest town. The western boundary was the
River Clyde and most of the northern boundary was the
North Calder Water. As well as Motherwell itself, the district also included the settlements of
Bellshill,
Chapelhall,
Holytown,
Newarthill,
Newmains and
Viewpark, with a rural hinterland centred around the small town of
Shotts extending east to the regional border with
West Lothian. It had the
eighth-largest population of the 53 Scottish districts of the era. The district was abolished in 1996 under the
Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 which replaced regions and districts with
unitary council areas.
North Lanarkshire council area was formed covering the abolished districts of Motherwell,
Monklands,
Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, and the
Chryston area of
Strathkelvin district. ==Political control==