2004 South Lakeland District Council election

The 2004 South Lakeland District Council election took place on 10 June 2004 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

• Liberal Democrat 22
• Conservative 20
• Labour 8
• Independent 2 ^[2]

Campaign

Before the election the Liberal Democrats had 22 seats, the Conservatives 18, Labour 8 and independents 2, with a further 2 seats being vacant. ^[3] The 2 vacant seats were in Milnthorpe, after the resignation of the Liberal Democrat councillor Malcolm Alston, and Ulverston East, following the death of Labour councillor Bob Bolton. ^[4] 18 seats were being contested in the 2004 election, with 6 of them being in Ulverston. ^[5] Apart from the 2 vacant seats, the Conservatives defended 7 seats, the Liberal Democrats 6, Labour 2 and 1 independent. ^[4]

Issues for the 3 parties represented on the council included the council tax, improving facilities, attracting more businesses to the area, street cleaning and plans to upgrade the Furness Line and create an A590 bypass. ^[6] There was controversy at the election over the decision of the Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate for Westmorland and Lonsdale Tim Farron to stand in the election for Milnthorpe. ^[7] The Conservatives attacked the decision saying it was an indication the Liberal Democrats would not win the parliamentary seat, but Tim Farron said there would be no problem with him doing both roles. ^[7]

The election in South Lakeland, along with all of North West England, had a trial of all postal voting. ^[3]

Election result

The results saw no party win a majority, but the Conservatives made 2 gains. ^[8] They took Grange-over-Sands from the Liberal Democrats by 1,129 votes to 1,054 and gained Ulverston Central from Labour by 263 votes to 226. ^[8] Successful candidates included the Conservative leader of the council Colin Hodgson and the Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate Tim Farron. ^[8] Overall turnout in the election was 55.88%. ^[9]

South Lakeland Local Election Result 2004 ^{[2] [9]}

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Conservative	9	2	0	+2	50.0	47.3	9,021	-2.4%
	Liberal Democrats	6	0	1	-1	33.3	37.6	7,169	-6.1%
	Labour	2	0	1	-1	11.1	7.0	1,340	+5.8%
	Independent	1	0	0	0	5.6	5.8	1,103	+0.4%
	Green	0	0	0	0	0	1.7	316	+1.7%
	UKIP	0	0	0	0	0	0.7	137	+0.7%

Ward results

Arnside and Beetham ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Ian Stewart*	1,133	51.9	−4.0
	Conservative	David Clark	1,051	48.1	+4.0
Majority			82	3.8	−8.0
Turnout			2,184	61.4	+12.4
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Burton and Holme ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Roger Bingham*	923	75.0	−7.4
	Liberal Democrats	Antony Jolley	308	25.0	+7.4
Majority			615	50.0	−14.8
Turnout			1,231	56.3	+10.5
	Conservative hold		Swing

Coniston ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Doreen Hall*	557	59.8	+3.8
	Liberal Democrats	John Hemingway	375	40.2	−3.8
Majority			182	19.6	+7.6
Turnout			932	63.2	+7.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

Grange ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Wearing	1,129	48.4	+11.3
	Liberal Democrats	Robert Leach*	1,054	45.1	−17.8
	Independent	Anthony Coles	152	6.5	N/A
Majority			75	3.3
Turnout			2,335	63.9	+19.0
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

Hawkshead ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Gordon Jenkinson*	404	52.5	+2.4
	Conservative	Richard Lancaster	366	47.5	−2.4
Majority			38	5.0	+4.8
Turnout			770	57.1	+13.3
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Levens ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Brenda Woof*	684	70.2	+13.6
	Conservative	Melvin Mackie	290	29.8	−13.6
Majority			394	40.4	+27.2
Turnout			974	66.0	+12.0
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Low Furness and Swarthmoor ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	David Foot*	863	50.2	−1.5
	Conservative	Janice Bell	491	28.6	−19.7
	Liberal Democrats	Lawson Short	365	21.2	N/A
Majority			372	21.6	+18.2
Turnout			1,719	49.9	+10.9
	Independent hold		Swing

Lyth Valley ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Robin Brown	605	65.3	+4.1
	Liberal Democrats	Margaret Smith	322	34.7	−4.1
Majority			283	30.6	+8.2
Turnout			927	55.8	+16.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

Milnthorpe ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Timothy Farron	723	66.6	−11.2
	Conservative	Andrew Coates	274	25.2	+3.0
	Labour	David Ryder	89	8.2	N/A
Majority			449	41.4	−14.2
Turnout			1,086	64.2	+29.0
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Natland ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Brenda Gray	605	56.5	+1.2
	Conservative	Enid Robinson**	465	43.5	−1.2
Majority			140	13.0	+2.4
Turnout			1,070	65.7	+11.9
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

• Enid Robinson was a sitting councillor for the Lyth Valley ward.

Staveley-in-Cartmel ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Michael Bentley*	425	48.4	−4.7
	Liberal Democrats	Ronald Mein	365	41.6	−5.3
	Independent	Edward Walsh	88	10.0	N/A
Majority			60	6.8	+0.6
Turnout			878	58.3	+15.4
	Conservative hold		Swing

Staveley-in-Westmorland ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Stanley Collins*	679	71.2	−7.6
	Conservative	George Richardson	275	28.8	+7.6
Majority			404	42.4	−15.2
Turnout			954	56.5	+13.3
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Ulverston Central ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Norman Bishop-Rowe	263	41.0	+2.6
	Labour	David Miller*	226	35.3	−26.3
	Liberal Democrats	Peter Metcalfe	152	23.7	N/A
Majority			37	5.7
Turnout			641	42.4	+10.5
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Ulverston East ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Philip Lister**	281	59.0	−18.1
	Conservative	Peter Hornby	195	41.0	+18.1
Majority			86	18.0	−36.2
Turnout			476	34.0	+5.8
	Labour hold		Swing

• Philip Lister was a sitting councillor for the Ulverston Town ward.

Ulverston North ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Colin Hodgson*	434	57.9	−10.8
	Green	Karen Stack	316	42.1	N/A
Majority			118	15.8	−21.6
Turnout			750	52.8	+15.3
	Conservative hold		Swing

Ulverston South ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Alfred Jarvis*	437	66.3	+4.0
	Labour	Bhareth Rajan	222	33.7	−4.0
Majority			215	32.6	+8.0
Turnout			659	48.1	+16.1
	Conservative hold		Swing

Ulverston Town ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Graham Donning	301	47.4	−27.1
	Conservative	George Bell	200	31.5	+6.0
	UKIP	Alan Beach	134	21.1	N/A
Majority			101	15.9	−33.1
Turnout			635	42.7	−0.2
	Labour hold		Swing

Ulverston West ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Janette Jenkinson*	641	74.4	−3.5
	Labour	Fay Plant	221	25.6	+3.5
Majority			420	48.8	−7.0
Turnout			862	52.6	+20.1
	Conservative hold		Swing

References

1. "South Lakeland council". BBC News. Retrieved 10 November 2009.
2. "Local elections 2004" (PDF). House of Commons Library. Retrieved 9 August 2011.
3. Hawkins, Justin (4 June 2004). "Ballot papers arrive on time". The Westmorland Gazette . Retrieved 11 August 2011.
4. Robinson-Tate, Michaela (14 May 2004). "Is this the year for change?". The Westmorland Gazette . Retrieved 11 August 2011.
5. "Postal voting a big success". The Westmorland Gazette . 9 June 2004. Retrieved 11 August 2011.
6. "Political groups set out their priorities". The Westmorland Gazette . 28 May 2004. Retrieved 11 August 2011.
7. Robinson-Tate, Michaela (14 May 2004). "Parties in row over Farron's decision". The Westmorland Gazette . Retrieved 11 August 2011.
8. Hawkins, Justin (11 June 2004). "Two seats lost in SLDC elections". The Westmorland Gazette . Retrieved 11 August 2011.
9. "South Lakeland District Council Elections - 10 June 2004: Election Results". South Lakeland District Council. Archived from the original on 21 September 2004. Retrieved 9 August 2011.