Westmorland and Furness Council is the local authority for Westmorland and Furness in the north-west of England. It is a unitary authority, being a district council which also performs the functions of a county council.[a] Westmorland and Furness Council was first elected in May 2022, operating as a shadow authority until it replaced Cumbria County Council, Barrow-in-Furness Borough Council, Eden District Council and South Lakeland District Council on 1 April 2023.
Politics
Westmorland and Furness has 65 councillors,[8] It was first elected in May 2022 and operated as a shadow authority until taking up its powers on 1 April 2023.[7]
Composition
At the 2022 council election, the Liberal Democrats secured a majority on the council with 36 out of 65 councillors. Labour have 15 councillors, the Conservatives have 11 councillors, the Green Party have 1 councillor and 2 councillors were elected as independents.[9][10]
Party | Councillors | |
---|---|---|
Liberal Democrats | 36 | |
Labour | 15 | |
Conservative | 11 | |
Independent | 2 | |
Green | 1 | |
Total | 65 |
Leadership
Political leadership is provided by the leader of the council. The first leader is Jonathan Brook, a Liberal Democrat, who was also the last leader of South Lakeland District Council.[11][12]
Councillor | Party | From | To | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Jonathan Brook | Liberal Democrats | 1 Apr 2023 |
Composition of predecessor bodies
The combined composition of the three merging district councils going into that election was as follows:[13]
Affiliation | Members | |
---|---|---|
Liberal Democrat | 44 | |
Conservative Party | 35 | |
Labour Party | 28 | |
Independent / Other | 14 | |
Green Party of England and Wales | 3 | |
Vacant | 1 |
References
- ^ Legally, the Westmorland and Furness area is both a non-metropolitan district and a non-metropolitan county, but the county has no separate county council, with the district council performing county functions.[7]
- ^ Nicholson, Savannah (17 May 2022). "Cllr Jonathan Brook appointed leader of Westmorland and Furness Council". Westmorland Gazette. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
- ^ "Councillor Matt Severn continues to take on Chair mantle". Westmorland and Furness Council. 10 May 2024.
- ^ "Liberal Democrats elect new group leader for Westmorland and Furness Council - Cumberland and Westmorland Herald". 8 May 2022.
- ^ "Chief executive named for Westmorland and Furness Council". Cumbria Crack. 22 July 2022. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
- ^ "Agenda for Shadow Authority for Westmorland and Furness Council on Tuesday, 17th May, 2022, 2.30 pm". westmorlandandfurness.moderngov.co.uk. 17 May 2022.
- ^ "New Cumbria councils to hold inaugural meetings - cumbriacrack.com".
- ^ a b "The Cumbria (Structural Changes) Order 2022", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 2022/331, retrieved 24 January 2024
- ^ "Elections - May 2022". New Councils for Cumbria.
- ^ "Westmorland and Furness". www.westmorlandandfurness.gov.uk.
- ^ "Westmorland & Furness result - Local Elections 2022". BBC News.
- ^ "Liberal Democrats elect new group leader for Westmorland and Furness Council - Cumberland and Westmorland Herald". 8 May 2022.
- ^ "Council minutes". Westmorland and Furness Council. Retrieved 15 June 2022.
- ^ "English Councils 2021". Open Council Data UK. Archived from the original on 8 April 2022. Retrieved 4 May 2022.
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