Govan is a suburb of the Scottish city of Glasgow. It is situated on the south bank of the River Clyde, just across from Partick. It was an administratively independent Police Burgh from 1864 until it was swallowed up by an ever expanding city of Glasgow in 1912.Traditionally viewed as a working-class area, Govan was at one stage the centre of the world renowned Clydeside shipbuilding industry, although few yards remain today, and those that do are under almost constant financial threat.
Unsurprisingly, given this background, the area has traditionally been a hotbed of support for the Labour Party, but the Scottish National Party (SNP) is strong there as well and in 1973 won a by-election with Margo MacDonald as their candidate. The SNP repeated this with another by-election victory in 1988, this time with Jim Sillars as candidate.
Sir Alex Ferguson, the manager of Manchester United, and the Trade unionist, Jimmy Reid were both born and brought up in the area.
Govan also has a station on the Glasgow SubwayThe Glasgow Subway is a metro system which has a circular two-track layout. Trains run clockwise on one track and anticlockwise on the other. It is nicknamed the Clockwork Orange because most of its carriages are painted orange, the corporate colour of St system.
