Created in 2007, the ward elects three councillors using the single transferable vote electoral system and covers an area with a population of 17,418 people.

The ward was created following the Fourth Statutory Reviews of Electoral Arrangements ahead of the 2007 Scottish local elections.

As a result of amendments to the boundaries of the South Lanarkshire Council's management areas, the boundaries between Rutherglen and Cambuslang, East Kilbride and Hamilton were tweaked so Cambuslang East also contained part of the former Long Calderwood ward.

[2] Most new multi-member wards were formed from at least three smaller predecessors, but the population of Cambuslang in the area now represented by Cambuslang East had increased substantially over the dozen years following the local government reforms in the 1990s due to the construction of the new Drumsagard neighbourhood, with further developments planned for sites including Westfarm, Newton Farm and Gilbertfield – these projects were largely completed over the next decade, increasing the ward's population above that of its neighbours.

[2] Prior to the local government reforms in the 1990s, Cambuslang was within the Glasgow District under Strathclyde Regional Council.