2011 Copeland Borough Council election

The 2011 Copeland Borough Council election took place on 5 May 2011 to elect members of Copeland Borough Council in Cumbria, England. The whole council was up for election and the Labour Party stayed in overall control of the council.^[1]

Background

At the last election in 2007 Labour won 31 seats, compared to 19 Conservatives and 1 independent.^[2] However between 2007 and 2011 Labour councillors Brian Dixon and Sam Meteer quit the party to sit as independents.^[3]^[4]

A total of 95 candidates stood in the election for the 51 seats being contested.^[2] These were 45 Labour, 37 Conservative, 4 independent, 4 British National Party, 3 Green Party and 2 Liberal Democrats.^[2] Meanwhile, 12 sitting councillors stood down at the election.^[2]

Election result

The results saw Labour hold control of the council after winning 34 of the 51 seats, up 5 on the situation before the election and 3 more than at the 2007 election.^[5] The Conservatives dropped 4 seats to have 15 councillors, while 2 independents were elected in Arlecdon and Distington.^[5] Overall turnout at the election was 40.98%.^[6]

Labour's biggest gains came in Bransty ward in Whitehaven, where they gained all 3 seats from the Conservatives.^[7] This included defeating the Conservative parliamentary candidate for Copeland at the 2010 general election, Chris Whiteside.^[7] Labour also picked up one seat in Newtown from the Conservatives and defeated the independent, former Labour, councillor Sam Meteer in Egremont North.^[5]

Copeland Local Election Result 2011^[8]
	Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
Labour	34	5	0	+5	66.7	56.7	23,697	+3.6%
Conservative	15	0	4	-4	29.4	36.6	15,294	-7.0%
Independent	2	0	1	-1	3.9	3.9	1,649	+2.3%
BNP	0	0	0	0	0	1.3	541	+1.3%
Liberal Democrats	0	0	0	0	0	0.8	342	-0.9%
Green	0	0	0	0	0	0.6	253	+0.6%

Ward results

Arlecdon^[5]^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Joseph Sunderland	359	80.5	+26.5
	Conservative	Marie Simpson	87	19.5	−4.3
Majority			272	61.0	+30.7
Turnout			446	37.3
	Independent hold		Swing

Beckermet (2)^[5]^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Yvonne Clarkson	681
	Conservative	John Jackson	536
	Labour	Jim Hewitson	340
Turnout			1,557	46.3
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Bootle^[5]^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Keith Hitchen	453	83.1
	Labour	Anne Bradshaw	92	16.9
Majority			361	66.2
Turnout			545	51.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

Bransty (3)^[5]^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Dave Smith	803
	Labour	Gillian Troughton	801
	Labour	Phil Greatorex	710
	Conservative	Brian O'Kane	653
	Conservative	Christopher Whiteside	649
	Conservative	Allan Mossop	642
Turnout			4,258	40.4
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

Cleator Moor North (3)^[5]^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Joan Hully	723
	Labour	Bill Southward	688
	Labour	Hugh Branney	680
	Conservative	Alexander Carroll	280
	BNP	Daniel Verity	129
Turnout			2,500	33.0
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Cleator Moor South (2)^[5]^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	David Riley	576
	Labour	Dave Banks	502
	Conservative	David Walker	118
	BNP	Colin Boyton	88
Turnout			1,284	33.7
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Distington (3)^[5]^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	John Bowman	614
	Labour	Jackie Bowman	598
	Independent	Brian Dixon	486
	Labour	Simon Leyton	431
	Liberal Democrats	Frank Hollowell	284
	Conservative	Sheena Gray	272
Turnout			2,685	39.1
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing
	Independent hold		Swing

Egremont North (3)^[5]^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Sam Pollen	714
	Labour	Elaine Woodburn	685
	Labour	Karl Connor	635
	Independent	Sam Meteer	509
	Conservative	John Holmes	371
Turnout			2,914	40.0
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour gain from Independent		Swing

Egremont South (3)^[5]^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Mike McVeigh	803
	Labour	Lena Hogg	694
	Labour	Carole Woodman	676
	Conservative	Elizabeth Hutson	398
	Conservative	Graham Hutson	374
	Independent	Nicola Hewitt	295
Turnout			3,240	43.3
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Ennerdale^[5]^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Bob Salkeld	265	59.3	+1.0
	Labour	Cam Ross	96	21.5	+4.4
	Liberal Democrats	Mike Minogue	58	13.0	−11.6
	Green	Andy Crow	28	6.3	+6.3
Majority			169	37.8	+4.1
Turnout			447	54.3
	Conservative hold		Swing

Frizington (2)^[5]^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Peter Connolly	489
	Labour	Jon Downie	355
	Conservative	Hazel Dirom	255
Turnout			1,099	37.3
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Gosforth^[5]^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Alan Jacob	478	77.5	+6.5
	Labour	Bernard Kirk	139	22.5	−6.5
Majority			339	54.9	+12.9
Turnout			61.7	46.7
	Conservative hold		Swing

Harbour (3)^[5]^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	John Kane	913
	Labour	Henry Wormstrup	746
	Labour	Jeanette Williams	730
	Conservative	Martin Barbour	468
	Conservative	Dorothy Wonnacott	447
	Conservative	Graham Roberts	440
Turnout			3,744	40.9
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Haverigg^[5]^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Doug Wilson	282	55.6	+14.5
	Labour	Carl Carter	225	44.4	+17.9
Majority			57	11.2	+2.6
Turnout			507	48.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

Hensingham (3)^[5]^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Geoff Garrity	729
	Labour	Norman Williams	653
	Labour	Margarita Docherty	619
	Conservative	Mary Lomas	302
Turnout			2,303	33.8
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Hillcrest (2)^[5]^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Stephen Haraldsen	567
	Conservative	Alistair Norwood	518
	Labour	John Wooley	360
Turnout			1,445	45.7
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Holborn Hill (2)^[5]^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Fred Gleaves	398
	Labour	Jack Park	360
	Conservative	Jane Micklethwaite	308
	Labour	Denise Burness	259
	Green	Neil Wilson	73
Turnout			1,398	41.9
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Kells (2)^[5]^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	George Clemnts	508
	Labour	Alan Holliday	399
	Conservative	Glenn Gray	199
Turnout			1,106	37.4
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Millom Without^[5]^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Gilbert Scurrah	386	62.3
	Green	Lynette Gilligan	152	24.5
	Labour	Karon Carter	82	13.2
Majority			234	37.7
Turnout			620	52.5
	Conservative hold		Swing

Mirehouse (3)^[5]^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Anne Faichney	775
	Labour	Peter Kane	711
	Labour	Paul Whalley	583
	Conservative	Jim King	225
	BNP	George Benson	194
Turnout			2,488	32.7
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Moresby^[5]^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Geoff Blackwell	243	55.6	+1.3
	Conservative	Brigid Whiteside	194	44.4	−1.3
Majority			49	11.2	+2.5
Turnout			437	40.8
	Labour hold		Swing

Newtown (3)^[5]^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	John Fallows	725
	Conservative	Francis Heathcote	613
	Conservative	Fee Wilson	480
	Conservative	Brian Crawford	432
Turnout			2,250	43.0
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

Sandwith (2)^[5]^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Peter Stephenson	373
	Labour	Peter Tyson	352
	Conservative	Adrian Davis-Johnson	131
	BNP	Malcolm Southward	130
	Conservative	John Dirom	104
Turnout			1,090	35.7
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Seascale (2)^[5]^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	David Moore	935
	Conservative	Eileen Eastwood	878
	Labour	Wendy Skillicorn	292
Turnout			2,105	54.9
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

St Bees^[5]^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ian Hill	475	68.7	−4.7
	Labour	Alan Alexander	216	31.3	+4.7
Majority			259	37.5	−9.4
Turnout			691	51.7
	Conservative hold		Swing

References

^ "England council elections". BBC News Online. Retrieved 25 July 2011.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Clarke, Andrew (15 April 2011). "Major shake-up expected after elections". The Whitehaven News. Retrieved 26 July 2011.
^ Whittle, Julian (10 September 2009). "Coupland councillor claims Labour party 'intimidation'". News and Star. Archived from the original on 4 October 2012. Retrieved 26 July 2011.
^ "Labour councillor 'crosses the floor'". Cumbria Life. 15 April 2009. Archived from the original on 6 October 2011. Retrieved 26 July 2011.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x ^y ^z ^aa ^ab Irving, Alan (12 May 2011). "Labour keeps its hands on reins at Copeland council". The Whitehaven News. Retrieved 26 July 2011.
^ "Copeland". North-West Evening Mail. 9 May 2011. Archived from the original on 8 October 2012. Retrieved 26 July 2011.
^ ^a ^b "Copeland council elections: Labour triumphs again". News and Star. 7 May 2011. Retrieved 26 July 2011.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x ^y ^z "May 2011 Election results". Copeland Borough Council. Retrieved 25 July 2011.

[hold-1] "England council elections". BBC News Online. Retrieved 25 July 2011.

[major-2] Clarke, Andrew (15 April 2011). "Major shake-up expected after elections". The Whitehaven News. Retrieved 26 July 2011.

[intimidation-3] Whittle, Julian (10 September 2009). "Coupland councillor claims Labour party 'intimidation'". News and Star. Archived from the original on 4 October 2012. Retrieved 26 July 2011.

[crosses-4] "Labour councillor 'crosses the floor'". Cumbria Life. 15 April 2009. Archived from the original on 6 October 2011. Retrieved 26 July 2011.

[reins-5] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x ^y ^z ^aa ^ab Irving, Alan (12 May 2011). "Labour keeps its hands on reins at Copeland council". The Whitehaven News. Retrieved 26 July 2011.

[copeland-6] "Copeland". North-West Evening Mail. 9 May 2011. Archived from the original on 8 October 2012. Retrieved 26 July 2011.

[triumphs-7] "Copeland council elections: Labour triumphs again". News and Star. 7 May 2011. Retrieved 26 July 2011.

[results-8] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x ^y ^z "May 2011 Election results". Copeland Borough Council. Retrieved 25 July 2011.

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