Motherwell Strathclyde Park previously hosted the major Scottish music festival, T in the Park, until 1996, when it was moved to a disused airfield in Balado, Kinross-shire. It has also hosted other music festivals such as Retrofest. Modern authors Des McAnulty and Mark Wilson have written novels of critical acclaim which are based in the town (LIFE IS LOCAL, McAnulty) and neighbouring town Bellshill (BOBBY'S BOY, Wilson). Motherwell is the headquarters for both North Lanarkshire Council, which is one of Scotland's most populous local authority areas, and of Police Scotland "Q" division. These organisations cover an overall population of 327,000 people
2015 United Kingdom general election in Scotland Conservative Party has not held a majority of Scottish seats in a general election since 1955 and it lost all eleven of its seats in the election of 1997. Since 2001, the party has only held one Westminster seat in Scotland. In 2005, following the re-organisation of Scottish constituencies, that seat was Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale, a mostly rural constituency near the Scottish borders. In 2010 its share of the vote in Scotland increased by roughly 0.9% and it retained the Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale, as its only Scottish constituency. It had been reported the party could gain Berwickshire, Roxburgh