Cumbria Council election, 2009

Location of Cumbria in England

Elections to Cumbria County Council took place on 4 June 2009. They coincided with an election for the European Parliament. All 84 seats in the Council were up for election, and a total of 301 candidates stood.^[1] The total number of people registered to vote was 392,931.^[2]

Background

In the previous election, held on 5 May 2005, the Labour Party won 39 seats, the Conservative Party 32, the Liberal Democrats 11, and independents two. By the end of this term, the Liberal Democrats had lost one councillor, and there were three independents.^[3] As in the 2001 election, the Council was left hung. For most of these eight years, the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats formed a coalition, although Labour is running a minority administration going into the election. On a national level, the Conservative Party are polling well and have targeted Carlisle and Barrow-in-Furness, although Richard Moss, BBC Political Editor for the North East and Cumbria, has said that an absolute majority is unlikely.^[4] It is considered to be a "safer area" than some of the other councils up for election in 2009, but the Liberal Democrats have also been making a push in the region.^[5]

In 2008, the Council rejected the idea of having a directly elected mayor, instead opting for a cabinet-style administration that resembled the previous system. The new model will be adopted after this election.^[6] A proposal for the Council to become a unitary authority was made in 2007,^[7] and Cumbria went into consultation stage, although the idea was rejected.^[8] The plan was opposed by the district councils—which would have disappeared under the arrangement—of Carlisle, Allerdale, Eden, Copeland, South Lakeland, and Barrow-in-Furness, and Carlisle MP Eric Martlew, who believed that a referendum should have been held on the same day as the district counil elections of May 3, 2007.^[9]

Other parties fielding candidates in the election included the British National Party (BNP), the Green Party, the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP), and the People's Party, which had seen success in Barrow previous years, where all six of its candidates were standing. The BNP is set to stand in 42 wards, after fielding none in the 2005 election. The leaders of the Council's Conservative, Labour, Liberal Democrat and People's Party groups all said that they felt the BNP would be unsuccessful. Christian church leaders also criticized the BNP for appealing to Christians in its campaigns, saying that the party was trying to stir up "racial and religious hatred."^[10] Mike Ashburner, Barrow and South Lakeland organiser for the BNP and the party's Hawcoat candidate, denied that the BNP was a racist party, and said that the reason for standing in Cumbria was "simply that our policies are so popular with people."^[11] In a 2007 by-election for the Kells and Sandwith (Whitehaven) ward, the party's candidate gained 40.1% of the vote, narrowly losing to the Labour candidate.^[12] Coming into the European elections, the BNP was perceived as having the best chance, nationally, to win a seat in the North West England constituency, where party leader Nick Griffin is running.^[13]

In the Labour Party's manifesto, plans were set out to cap council tax increases at three per cent in each of the next four years; Council leader Stewart Young justified this by saying that people were not prepared to pay above the rate of inflation anymore. The party promised improvements to schooling and roads, and Young said that he hoped the party would be judged on its record in office, and not by the performances for the incumbent UK Labour government. The Conservatives pledged to have a blanket 30 mph speed limit in any village big enough to display a name sign, improved roads, and said that they would "remodel" Cumbria Care so that fewer elderly people felt the need to move into care homes. The Liberal Democrats said that they would introduce cheaper bus fees for young people, a clampdown on speeding, a review of road maintenance and the introduction of four new transport schemes, and schemes designed to give communities greater access to the Council.^[1]

Cumbria County Council election, 2005
	Party	Seats
	Labour	39
	Conservative	32
	Liberal Democrats	11
	Independent	2

Summary

Cumbria County Council election, 2009
Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/-
	Conservative	38			+6	45%		62,438
	Labour	24			-15	29%		33,234
	Liberal Democrat	16			+6	19%		38,300
	Independent	5			+2	6%
	Socialist People's Party	1			+1	1%

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Julian Whittle (2009-05-15). "Battle lines are drawn ahead of the Cumbria council elections". Cumberland News. http://www.cumberland-news.co.uk/news/battle_lines_are_drawn_ahead_of_the_cumbria_council_elections_1_555027?referrerPath=news/. Retrieved 2009-05-15. 
2. ^ "Number and Breakdown of Registered Voters". Cumbria County Council website. http://www.cumbria.gov.uk/election2009/Number_and_Breakdown_of_Registered_Voters.asp. Retrieved 2009-05-14. 
3. ^ "Council elections 2009: Cumbria". BBC News. 2009-05-13. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cumbria/8026601.stm. Retrieved 2009-05-15. 
4. ^ Moss, Richard (2009-05-13). "Political parties eye up Cumbria". BBC News. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cumbria/8028676.stm. Retrieved 2009-05-14. 
5. ^ "Analysis: Local elections 2009". politics.co.ukauthor=Alex Stevenson. 2009-06-01. http://www.politics.co.uk/interviews/elections/analysis-local-elections-2009-$1300168.htm. Retrieved 2009-06-02. 
6. ^ "Council rules out elected mayor". BBC News. 2008-09-14. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cumbria/7615511.stm. Retrieved 2009-05-14. 
7. ^ "Twenty-six councils bid to become unitary authorities". webmaster. 2007-01-26. http://www.24dash.com/news/Local_Government/2007-01-26-Twenty-six-councils-bid-to-become-unitary-authorities. Retrieved 2009-05-15. 
8. ^ "Woolas announces sixteen successful bids for unitary status to improve local services". eGove monitor. 2007-03-27. http://www.egovmonitor.com/node/10037. Retrieved 2009-05-15. 
9. ^ Julian Whittle (2007-03-30). "Big step forward for unitary authority bid". The Whitehaven News. http://www.whitehaven-news.co.uk/1.167901. Retrieved 2009-05-15. 
10. ^ Jennifer Gold (2009-04-28). "Use vote for hope not hate, say Cumbrian church leaders". Christian Today. http://www.christiantoday.com/article/use.vote.for.hope.not.hate.say.cumbrian.church.leaders/23202.htm. Retrieved 2009-05-16. 
11. ^ "Fury at BNP's Cumbria County Council election stance". North West Evening Mail. 2009-05-04. http://www.nwemail.co.uk/news/barrow/fury_at_bnp_s_cumbria_county_council_election_stance?referrerPath=news/1.90824. Retrieved 2009-05-14. 
12. ^ Alan Irving (2009-05-13). "Leaders urge big poll turnout". The Whitehaven News. http://www.whitehaven-news.co.uk/news/leaders_urge_big_poll_turnout_1_554025?referrerPath=home. Retrieved 2009-05-16. 
13. ^ Andrew Grice (2009-05-04). "'Best way to beat the BNP is to vote Green'". London: The Independent. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/best-way-to-beat-the-bnp-is-to-vote-green-1678539.html. Retrieved 2009-05-14. 

External links

• Cumbria Council

Preceded by Cumbria Council election, 2005

Cumbria local elections

Succeeded by Cumbria Council election, 2013