2003 South Lakeland District Council election

The 2003 South Lakeland District Council election took place on 1 May 2003 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:

Background

Before the election the Liberal Democrats had 21 seats, the Conservatives 19, Labour 9 and independents 3.^[3] 17 seats were being contested with the Conservatives defending 10, the Liberal Democrats 6 and an independent 1 seat.^[3] 2 sitting Liberal Democrat councillors stood down at the election, Patricia Himsworth in Arnside and Beetham, and Claire Chorley in Burneside.^[3]^[4]

Major issues in the election included housing, regeneration, recycling, public toilets,^[5] affordable transport and refuse collection.^[6]

Election result

The results saw the Liberal Democrats remain the largest party with 23 seats,^[7] but without a majority, after gaining 2 seats from the Conservatives in Cartmel and Low Furness & Swarthmoor and 1 seat from an independent in Whinfell.^[3] However the Conservatives did take 1 seat back from the Liberal Democrats in Arnside & Beetham to hold 18 seats.^[3] Labour remained on 9 seats, while independents dropped to 2 seats.^[3] Overall turnout in the election was 44%, with a low of 33.9% in Windermere Applethwaite to a high of 54.2% in Kirkby Lonsdale.^[3]

South Lakeland Local Election Result 2003^[3]^[8]
	Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
Conservative	9	1	2	-1	52.9	49.7	7,923	+19.1%
Liberal Democrats	8	3	1	+2	47.1	43.7	6,967	-2.1%
Independent	0	0	1	-1	0	5.4	854	+3.9%
Labour	0	0	0	0	0	1.2	198	-20.9%

Ward results

Arnside and Beetham^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Richard Rollins	906	47.3	+0.4
	Liberal Democrats	Brenda Tidmarsh-Stephen	812	42.4	−6.4
	Labour	Jocelyn Innes	198	10.3	N/A
Majority			94	4.9
Turnout			1,916	54.1	+10.0
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

Broughton^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Joss Curwen*	700	75.7	−16.6
	Liberal Democrats	John Humberstone	225	24.3	−68.0
Majority			475	51.4
Turnout			925	48.9	+2.0
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

Joss Curwen was originally elected as a Liberal Democrat councillor.

Burneside^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Frank Hodson	385	60.6	−23.0
	Conservative	Stephen Procter	250	39.4	N/A
Majority			135	21.2
Turnout			635	40.7	+7.6
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Cartmel^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Howard Martin	364	54.2	*N/A*
	Conservative	Leslie Hadwin*	308	45.8	+45.8
Majority			56	8.4
Turnout			672	44.6	+44.6
	Liberal Democrats gain from Independent		Swing

Leslie Hadwin was originally elected unopposed as an Independent councillor.

Crake Valley^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Noel Spendlove*	360	65.9	−2.7
	Conservative	Robert Webster	186	34.1	+2.7
Majority			174	31.8
Turnout			546	37.9	−3.4
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Crooklands^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Galbraith	440	51.0	−20.0
	Liberal Democrats	Sheila Eccles	423	49.0	+27.8
Majority			17	2.0
Turnout			863	49.0	+11.4
	Conservative hold		Swing

Grange^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Reginald Parker	907	53.0	−3.1
	Liberal Democrats	Ronald Shapland	803	47.0	+9.0
Majority			104	6.0
Turnout			1,710	46.7	+1.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

Holker^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Manning*	519	67.8	*N/A*
	Liberal Democrats	Susan Rawsthorn	246	32.2	N/A
Majority			273	35.6
Turnout			765	51.9	+51.9
	Conservative gain from Independent		Swing

John Manning had previously been elected in a by-election.

Kirkby Lonsdale^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Barclay Stainton	629	61.2	−4.6
	Independent	Alan Day	338	32.9	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Christopher Lansdowne	61	5.9	N/A
Majority			291	28.3
Turnout			1,028	54.2	+0.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

Lakes Ambleside^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	David Vatcher*	499	45.1	−0.5
	Conservative	Brian Barton	480	43.4	+24.7
	Independent	George Middleton	127	11.5	−24.5
Majority			19	1.7
Turnout			1,106	36.2	−2.8
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Low Furness & Swarthmoor^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Sonjie Marshall	710	52.6	−1.0
	Conservative	William Tyson*	640	47.4	+23.4
Majority			70	5.2
Turnout			1,350	39.7	+1.5
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

William Tyson had been elected at a by-election for the Conservative Party.

Sedbergh^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Kevin Lancaster*	697	71.4	+11.2
	Liberal Democrats	Sydney McLennan	279	28.6	+10.1
Majority			418	42.8
Turnout			976	34.5	−6.1
	Conservative hold		Swing

Whinfell^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Peter Thornton	489	55.7	*N/A*
	Independent	William Robinson*	389	44.3	+44.3
Majority			110	11.4
Turnout			878	48.2	+48.2
	Liberal Democrats gain from Independent		Swing

Windermere Applethwaite^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jennifer Borer*	343	60.7	−0.2
	Liberal Democrats	Audrey Ahmad	222	39.3	+0.2
Majority			121	21.4
Turnout			565	33.9	−2.1
	Conservative hold		Swing

Windermere Bowness North^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Deidre Cranwell*	478	57.1	+4.3
	Conservative	Martin Hall	359	42.9	+9.1
Majority			119	14.2
Turnout			837	52.7	+5.7
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Windermere Bowness South^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jane Hoyle*	410	75.9	+16.6
	Liberal Democrats	Helen Scott-Parker	130	24.1	−16.6
Majority			280	51.8
Turnout			540	38.5	+2.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

Windermere Town^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Kathleen Atkinson*	481	76.3	+27.7
	Conservative	Elizabeth Graham	149	23.7	−12.4
Majority			332	52.6
Turnout			630	37.4	−3.5
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

References

^ "Local elections". BBC News Online. Retrieved 10 November 2009.
^ "Local council election results". The Daily Telegraph. 3 May 2003. Retrieved 9 August 2011.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h "Local Council Elections May 2003". South Lakeland District Council. Archived from the original on 6 June 2003. Retrieved 9 August 2011.
^ "Election: Lib Dem women bow out". The Westmorland Gazette. 11 April 2003. Retrieved 11 August 2011.
^ "Election: Battle lines are drawn in the fight for votes". The Westmorland Gazette. 11 April 2003. Retrieved 11 August 2011.
^ "Election: Candidates in the running". The Westmorland Gazette. 17 April 2003. Retrieved 11 August 2011.
^ "Election: No change of power at South Lakeland District Council". The Westmorland Gazette. 2 May 2003. Retrieved 11 August 2011.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r "Local Elections 1 May 2003". Political Science Resources. Archived from the original on 13 August 2012. Retrieved 9 August 2011.

[change-1] "Local elections". BBC News Online. Retrieved 10 November 2009.

[council-2] "Local council election results". The Daily Telegraph. 3 May 2003. Retrieved 9 August 2011.

[local-3] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h "Local Council Elections May 2003". South Lakeland District Council. Archived from the original on 6 June 2003. Retrieved 9 August 2011.

[bow-4] "Election: Lib Dem women bow out". The Westmorland Gazette. 11 April 2003. Retrieved 11 August 2011.

[drawn-5] "Election: Battle lines are drawn in the fight for votes". The Westmorland Gazette. 11 April 2003. Retrieved 11 August 2011.

[running-6] "Election: Candidates in the running". The Westmorland Gazette. 17 April 2003. Retrieved 11 August 2011.

[district-7] "Election: No change of power at South Lakeland District Council". The Westmorland Gazette. 2 May 2003. Retrieved 11 August 2011.

[results-8] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r "Local Elections 1 May 2003". Political Science Resources. Archived from the original on 13 August 2012. Retrieved 9 August 2011.

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v t e Council elections in Cumbria
Cumberland Council	2022
Westmorland and Furness Council	2022
Cumbria County Council	1973 1977 1981 1985 1989 1993 1997 2001 2005 2009 2013 2017 Abolished
Allerdale Borough Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019 Abolished
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South Lakeland District Council	1973 1976 1979 1980 1982 1983 1984 1986 1987 1988 1990 1991 1992 1994 1995 1996 1998 1999 2000 2002 2003 2004 2006 2007 2008 2010 2011 2012 2014 2015 2016 2018 2019 Abolished
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See also: Wards Boundary changes

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