Westmorland and Furness Council | |
|---|---|
 Council logo | |
| Type | |
| Type | |
| History | |
| Founded | 1 April 2023 |
| Preceded by | Cumbria County Council |
| Leadership | |
Sam Plum since 31 December 2022[3] | |
| Structure | |
| Seats | 65 councillors |
 | |
Political groups |
|
Length of term | 4 years (from 2023) |
| Elections | |
| First past the post | |
Last election | 5 May 2022 |
Next election | 6 May 2027 |
| Meeting place | |
 | |
| County Hall, Busher Walk, Kendal, LA9 4RQ[4][5] | |
| Website | |
| www | |
Westmorland and Furness Council is the local authority for Westmorland and Furness in the north-west of England. It is a unitary authority, having the powers of a county council and district council combined.[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,[7] It was first elected in May 2022 and operated as a shadow authority until taking up its powers on 1 April 2023.[6]
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.[8][9]
| 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.[10][11]
| 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:[12]
| 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 council is a district council which additionally performs the functions assigned to county councils by local government legislation. The Westmorland and Furness area is both a non-metropolitan district and a non-metropolitan county, but the county has no separate county council.[6]
- ^ "Leader selected for new Westmorland and Furness Council". The Westmorland Gazette.
- ^ "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.
External links
- Westmorland and Furness Council - Official website
- Westmorland and Furness Council - Official Twitter feed
- Westmorland and Furness Joint Committee
- Two New Councils for Cumbria
