It consists of 43 councillors who elect from among their number a provost to serve as the council's convener and ceremonial head and a leader of the council who is typically the head of the largest political group.

[3] Renfrewshire Council acts as the lead authority for Scotland Excel, a collaborative procurement vehicle established in 2008 to support the local authorities of Scotland.

Following the 2022 election an SNP minority administration took control of the council with support from independent councillor Andy Doig on a confidence and supply basis.

[14] Since 2007 elections have been held every five years under the single transferable vote system, introduced by the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004.

These electoral wards, following a 2017 review and first used in the 2017 Renfrewshire Council election are as follows:[19][20] (2020)