2002 South Lakeland District Council election

The 2002 South Lakeland District Council election took place on 2 May 2002 to elect members of South Lakeland District Council in Cumbria, England. One third of the council was up for election and the council stayed under no overall control.^[1]

After the election, the composition of the council was:

Background

Before the election the Liberal Democrats were the largest group on the council, but no party had a majority.^[3] 14 of the seats being contested were in Kendal, with the Liberal Democrats defending 9 of the 18 seats which were up for election.^[3]^[4] 3 councillors stood down at the election, Liberal Democrat John Sudholme of Kendal Castle ward, Labour's Jim Blamire of Kendal Underley and independent Philip Ball of Kendal Oxenholme.^[5]

Issues in the election included plans to move council housing from the direct control of the council, with Labour opposing the move and both the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats supporting it.^[3] Other issues included improving the council finances, increasing recycling, parking and social exclusion.^[3]

Election result

The results saw little change in the party balance on the council,^[6] with the only net change being the Conservatives going up by 1 seat to 19 councillors, at the expense of the independents, who dropped to 3 seats.^[7] Close results came in Kendal Nether, where Labour gained a seat from the Liberal Democrats by 7 votes after a recount, and Kendal Highgate, where the Liberal Democrats took a seat from Labour by 13 votes.^[7]

South Lakeland Local Election Result 2002^[8]^[2]
	Seats	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes
Liberal Democrats	9	0	50.0	45.8	5,690
Labour	6	0	33.3	22.1	2,746
Conservative	2	+1	11.1	30.6	3,799
Independent	1	-1	5.6	1.5	190

One Independent candidate was unopposed.^[8]

Ward results

Arnside and Beetham (by-election)^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Ian Stewart	1,038	54.1	−1.8
	Conservative	George Crossman	879	45.9	+1.8
Majority			159	8.2	−3.6
Turnout			1,917	54.8	+10.7
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Kendal Castle^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Sonia Lawson	344	51.7	−3.8
	Conservative	Lyndsay Slater	267	40.2	+12.7
	Labour	Alan Whitton	54	8.1	−8.9
Majority			77	11.5
Turnout			665	44.0	+3.0
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Kendal Far Cross^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Simon Butterfield	278	43.9	+29.2
	Liberal Democrats	Carole Cliffe	218	34.4	−37.3
	Labour	Guy Johnson	137	21.6	+8.1
Majority			60	9.5
Turnout			633	38.8	+9.1
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

Kendal Fell^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Robin Yates*	233	47.6	−14.9
	Liberal Democrats	Geoffrey Cook	195	39.9	+2.4
	Conservative	Helen Graham	61	12.5	N/A
Majority			38	7.7
Turnout			489	35.6	−3.6
	Labour hold		Swing

Kendal Glebelands^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Robert Rothwell*	276	39.8	−8.5
	Liberal Democrats	Russell Caton	250	36.1	+19.2
	Conservative	Pamela Flitcroft	167	24.1	−10.7
Majority			26	3.7
Turnout			693	46.4	+6.5
	Labour hold		Swing

Kendal Heron Hill^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Stephen Shine*	411	63.7	−9.9
	Conservative	Susan Hunt	154	23.9	+7.6
	Labour	Margaret Alderson	80	12.4	+2.3
Majority			257	39.8
Turnout			645	38.8	+0.2
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Kendal Highgate^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Paul Little	269	43.4	+5.0
	Labour	Rita Molloy*	256	41.4	−6.4
	Conservative	Frank Brooks	94	15.2	+1.4
Majority			13	2.0
Turnout			619	42.2	+7.5
	Liberal Democrats gain from Labour		Swing

Kendal Kirkland^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Avril Dobson*	255	64.4	−17.1
	Conservative	Janet Brooks	77	19.4	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Gwyneth Raymond	64	16.2	−2.3
Majority			178	45.0
Turnout			396	29.0	−3.6
	Labour hold		Swing

Kendal Mintsfeet^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Angela Barratt*	248	42.6	−20.6
	Labour	Brian Dobson	184	31.6	+15.9
	Conservative	Jack Tomlinson	150	25.8	+4.7
Majority			64	11.0
Turnout			582	35.3	+9.8
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Kendal Nether^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Paul Braithwaite	298	44.4	+2.3
	Liberal Democrats	Christopher Mayho*	291	43.4	−6.4
	Conservative	Susannah Pearson	82	12.2	+4.2
Majority			7	1.0
Turnout			671	45.8	+1.7
	Labour gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

Kendal Oxenholme^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Gwendoline Murfin	363	57.5	−0.8
	Conservative	Olga Lewis	154	24.4	+11.8
	Labour	Keith Fawcett	114	18.1	−11.0
Majority			209	33.1
Turnout			631	36.2	+3.3
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Kendal Parks^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Brendan Jameson*	395	73.3	−7.8
	Conservative	Elizabeth Graham	101	18.7	+6.9
	Labour	Helen Speed	43	8.0	+0.9
Majority			294	54.6
Turnout			539	32.8	−1.3
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Kendal Stonecross^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Graham Vincent*	491	58.8	+9.8
	Conservative	Harold Barker	282	33.8	−6.8
	Labour	Terence McIntee	62	7.4	−3.0
Majority			209	25.0
Turnout			835	52.7	+7.1
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Kendal Strickland^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jean Ewing*	375	61.0	−11.0
	Conservative	Melvin Mackie	120	19.5	+5.6
	Liberal Democrats	Lynne Mayho	120	19.5	+5.4
Majority			255	41.5
Turnout			615	36.9	−1.2
	Labour hold		Swing

Kendal Underley^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Charles Batteson	379	63.8	−23.5
	Liberal Democrats	James McKeefery	121	20.4	+7.7
	Conservative	Geoffrey Robson	94	15.8	N/A
Majority			258	43.4
Turnout			594	39.6	+0.5
	Labour hold		Swing

Lakes Ambleside^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Robert Barker*	580	46.8	+9.7
	Conservative	Brian Barton	468	37.8	+19.1
	Independent	George Middleton	190	15.3	−20.7
Majority			112	9.0
Turnout			1,238	38.6	−0.4
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Lakes Grasmere^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Elizabeth Braithwaite*	unopposed	*N/A*	−75.7
Majority			N/A	N/A
Turnout			N/A	N/A	−38.6
	Independent hold		Swing

Sedbergh^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Paul Winn	771	72.5	+16.7
	Liberal Democrats	Sydney McLennan	292	27.5	+9.0
Majority			479	45.0
Turnout			1,063	37.4	−3.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

References

^ "South Lakeland". BBC News Online. Retrieved 10 November 2009.
^ ^a ^b "Local Elections in England: 2 May 2002" (PDF). House of Commons Library. Retrieved 9 August 2011.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Dennett, Jennie (19 April 2002). "Housing becomes political hot potato". The Westmorland Gazette. Retrieved 10 August 2011.
^ "Election call". The Westmorland Gazette. 26 April 2002. Retrieved 10 August 2011.
^ "Stalwarts back out of elections". The Westmorland Gazette. 12 April 2002. Retrieved 10 August 2011.
^ "BNP shock for North". BBC News Online. 3 May 2002. Retrieved 9 August 2011.
^ ^a ^b "Election results no surprise". The Westmorland Gazette. 3 May 2002. Retrieved 10 August 2011.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t "South Lakeland". Local Elections Archive Project. Retrieved 9 August 2011.

[change-1] "South Lakeland". BBC News Online. Retrieved 10 November 2009.

[england-2] "Local Elections in England: 2 May 2002" (PDF). House of Commons Library. Retrieved 9 August 2011.

[housing-3] Dennett, Jennie (19 April 2002). "Housing becomes political hot potato". The Westmorland Gazette. Retrieved 10 August 2011.

[call-4] "Election call". The Westmorland Gazette. 26 April 2002. Retrieved 10 August 2011.

[stalwarts-5] "Stalwarts back out of elections". The Westmorland Gazette. 12 April 2002. Retrieved 10 August 2011.

[bnp-6] "BNP shock for North". BBC News Online. 3 May 2002. Retrieved 9 August 2011.

[surprise-7] "Election results no surprise". The Westmorland Gazette. 3 May 2002. Retrieved 10 August 2011.

[results-8] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t "South Lakeland". Local Elections Archive Project. Retrieved 9 August 2011.

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