2006 South Lakeland District Council election

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.

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]

After the election, the composition of the council was:

• Liberal Democrat 31
• Conservative 18
• Labour 2
• Independent 1 ^[2]

Background

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

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

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

1. "Local elections: South Lakeland". BBC News Online . Retrieved 10 November 2009.
2. "Local elections 2006" (PDF). House of Commons Library. 10 May 2006. Retrieved 9 August 2011.
3. Mullen, Adrian (14 April 2006). "Health high on agenda". The Westmorland Gazette . Retrieved 11 August 2011.
4. "Lib Dems play down mixed results". BBC News Online. 5 May 2006. Retrieved 9 August 2011.
5. "Lib Dems take South Lakeland". The Westmorland Gazette . 5 May 2006. Retrieved 11 August 2011.
6. "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.