2006 South Lakeland District Council election

The 2006 South Lakeland District Council election took place on 4 May 2006 to elect members of South Lakeland District Council in Cumbria, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Liberal Democrats gained overall control of the council from no overall control.[1]

Map of the results of the 2006 South Lakeland council election. Liberal Democrats in yellow and Conservatives in blue. Wards in grey were not contested in 2006.

After the election, the composition of the council was:

Background

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Candidates in the election included a Save Westmorland Hospital Group, opposed to any reduced services at Westmorland General Hospital.[3] Meanwhile, councillors who stood down at the election included cabinet member Bob Barker and long time independent Elizabeth Braithwaite.[3]

Election result

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The results saw the Liberal Democrats win a majority on the council after gaining 9 seats, 6 from Labour, 2 from the Conservatives and 1 from an independent.[4] This gave the Liberal Democrats 31 seats and was the first time that a political party had won a majority on the council.[4] The 6 Liberal Democrat gains from Labour were all in Kendal, as well as 1 of the 2 gains from the Conservatives.[5] The other 2 seats they gained were Sedbergh from the Conservatives and Lakes Grasmere, where the independent councillor had stepped down at the election.[5]

South Lakeland Local Election Result 2006[2][6]
Party Seats Gains Losses Net gain/loss Seats % Votes % Votes +/−
  Liberal Democrats 17 9 0 +9 94.4 66.4 10,131 +28.8%
  Conservative 1 0 2 -2 5.6 22.8 3,475 -24.5%
  Labour 0 0 6 -6 0 8.0 1,218 +1.0%
  Independent 0 0 1 -1 0 1.6 251 -4.2%
  Save Westmorland Hospital Group 0 0 0 0 0 1.0 150 New
  Green 0 0 0 0 0 0.2 35 -1.5%

Ward results

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Kendal Castle[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Sonia Lawson* 612 75.2 +23.5
Conservative Enid Robinson 202 24.8 −15.4
Majority 410 50.4 +38.9
Turnout 814 55.3 +11.3
Liberal Democrats hold Swing
Kendal Far Cross[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Enda Farrell 512 73.6 +39.2
Conservative Simon Butterfield* 152 21.8 −22.1
Labour Nicola Wright 32 4.6 −17.0
Majority 360 51.8
Turnout 696 45.7 +6.9
Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative Swing
Kendal Fell[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Paul Little** 435 62.9 +23.0
Labour Robin Yates* 179 25.9 −21.7
Conservative Jack Tomlinson 78 11.3 −1.2
Majority 256 37.0
Turnout 692 46.8 +11.2
Liberal Democrats gain from Labour Swing
  • Paul Little was a sitting councillor for the Kendal Highgate ward.
Kendal Glebelands[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Sylvia Emmott 559 70.7 +34.6
Labour Robert Rothwell* 138 17.4 −22.4
Conservative Pamela Flitcroft 94 11.9 −12.2
Majority 421 53.3
Turnout 791 53.7 +7.3
Liberal Democrats gain from Labour Swing
Kendal Heron Hill[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Stephen Shine* 649 81.2 +17.5
Conservative Katherine Nicholson 150 18.8 −5.1
Majority 499 62.4 +22.6
Turnout 799 49.1 +10.3
Liberal Democrats hold Swing
Kendal Highgate[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Clive Graham 396 57.6 +14.2
Labour Marilyn Molloy 217 31.5 −9.9
Conservative Eric Wright 75 10.9 −4.3
Majority 179 26.1 +24.1
Turnout 688 51.0 +8.8
Liberal Democrats hold Swing
Kendal Kirkland[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Robert Cocker 345 65.5 +49.3
Labour Avril Dobson* 109 20.7 −43.7
Conservative Lucia Cartmell 43 8.2 −11.2
Save Westmorland Hospital Group Andrew Billson-Page 30 5.7 N/A
Majority 236 44.8
Turnout 527 38.9 +9.9
Liberal Democrats gain from Labour Swing
Kendal Mintsfeet[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Gwendoline Murfin** 479 60.1 +17.5
Independent Nigel Blamire 189 23.7 N/A
Conservative Andrew Coates 129 16.2 −9.6
Majority 290 36.4 +25.4
Turnout 797 48.3 +13.0
Liberal Democrats hold Swing
  • Gwendoline Murfin was a sitting councillor for the Kendal Oxenholme ward.
Kendal Nether[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Clare Feeney-Johnson 471 65.9 +22.5
Labour Paul Braithwaite* 182 25.5 −18.9
Conservative Melvin Mackie 62 8.7 −3.5
Majority 289 40.4
Turnout 715 50.2 +4.4
Liberal Democrats gain from Labour Swing
Kendal Oxenholme[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Jonathan Brook 626 74.0 +16.5
Conservative Geoffrey Robson 99 11.7 −12.7
Independent Nigel Byrom 62 7.3 N/A
Labour Keith Fawcett 31 3.7 −14.4
Save Westmorland Hospital Group Anna Billson-Page 28 3.3 N/A
Majority 527 62.3 +29.2
Turnout 846 46.4 +10.2
Liberal Democrats hold Swing
Kendal Parks[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Brendan Jameson* 528 74.9 +1.6
Conservative Olga Lewis 96 13.6 −5.1
Save Westmorland Hospital Group Leonard Edgar 46 6.5 N/A
Green Jonathan Briggs 35 5.0 N/A
Majority 432 61.3 +6.7
Turnout 705 43.0 +10.2
Liberal Democrats hold Swing
Kendal Stonecross[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Graham Vincent* 643 68.6 +9.8
Conservative Richard Liddle 215 22.9 −10.9
Labour Jennifer Rothwell 79 8.4 +1.0
Majority 428 45.7 +20.7
Turnout 937 58.8 +6.1
Liberal Democrats hold Swing
Kendal Strickland[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Stephen Coleman 671 74.8 +55.3
Conservative Helen Graham 116 12.9 −6.6
Labour Mark Kidd 110 12.3 −48.7
Majority 555 61.9
Turnout 897 52.9 +16.0
Liberal Democrats gain from Labour Swing
Kendal Underley[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Robert Curry 488 66.5 +46.1
Labour Martyn Jowett 141 19.2 −44.6
Conservative David Williams 59 8.0 −7.8
Save Westmorland Hospital Group Charles Batteson* 46 6.3 −57.5
Majority 357 47.3
Turnout 734 49.1 +5.7
Liberal Democrats gain from Labour Swing
  • Charles Batteson was originally elected as a Labour councillor.
Kirkby Lonsdale (by-election)[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Rodger Read 531 57.8 −3.4
Liberal Democrats Jennifer Foot 388 42.2 +36.3
Majority 143 15.6 −12.7
Turnout 919 48.8 −5.4
Conservative hold Swing
Lakes Ambleside[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats David Earnshaw 1,018 69.3 +24.5
Conservative John Curwen 452 30.7 −17.1
Majority 566 38.6 +30.6
Turnout 1,470 51.4 +12.8
Liberal Democrats hold Swing
Lakes Grasmere[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Vivienne Rees 433 70.5 N/A
Conservative Thomas Holden 181 29.5 N/A
Majority 252 41.0
Turnout 614 53.5 N/A
Liberal Democrats gain from Independent Swing
Sedbergh[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Craig Stephenson 878 54.2 +26.7
Conservative David Wilson 741 45.8 −26.7
Majority 137 8.4
Turnout 1,619 57.8 +20.4
Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative Swing

References

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  1. ^ "Local elections: South Lakeland". BBC News Online. Retrieved 10 November 2009.
  2. ^ a b "Local elections 2006" (PDF). House of Commons Library. 10 May 2006. Retrieved 9 August 2011.
  3. ^ a b Mullen, Adrian (14 April 2006). "Health high on agenda". The Westmorland Gazette. Retrieved 11 August 2011.
  4. ^ a b "Lib Dems play down mixed results". BBC News Online. 5 May 2006. Retrieved 9 August 2011.
  5. ^ a b "Lib Dems take South Lakeland". The Westmorland Gazette. 5 May 2006. Retrieved 11 August 2011.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s "South Lakeland District Council elections - 4 May 2006" (PDF). South Lakeland District Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 September 2011. Retrieved 9 August 2011.