Mayor of Copeland

The Mayor of Copeland was a directly elected mayoralty, first elected on 7 May 2015, taking on the executive function of Copeland Borough Council in Cumbria, England. The first and only mayor was Mike Starkie, elected as an independent candidate in 2015 and 2019 but later joining the Conservative Party. The post was scrapped in the reorganisation of local government in Cumbria in April 2023.

Mayor of Copeland
Incumbent
post abolished
StyleNo courtesy title or style
AppointerElectorate of Copeland
Term lengthFour years
Inaugural holderMike Starkie
FormationMay 2014 referendum
Deputyvacant
Salary£50,000 [1]
Websitehttp://www.copelandbc.gov.uk/section/mike-starkie-elected-mayor

Referendum

A petition to change the status of the borough from one with a leader and cabinet to one with an executive mayor was submitted in February 2014. On 22 May 2014, a referendum was held (concurrent with elections to the European Parliament), at which voters opted to change to a mayoral system.[2]

Mayor of Copeland Referendum
22 May 2014
Choice Votes  %
Referendum passed Elected Mayor 12,671 69.8
Cabinet System 5,489 30.2
Total votes 18,160 100.00

2015 election

The election was initially planned for October 2014, but this was later delayed to May 2015 to save money.[3] The contest took place on the same day as the election of borough councillors and the UK general election.

Copeland mayoral election 7 May 2015 [4]
Party Candidate 1st round 2nd round
 First round votes  Transfer votes 
Total Of round Transfers Total Of round
Independent Mike Starkie 9,836 30.5% 5,397 15,233 51.2%
​​
Labour Steve Gibbons 12,867 39.9% 1,662 14,529 48.8%
​​
Conservative Chris Whiteside 9,509 29.5%
​​
Turnout 32,212
Independent win

2019 election
Copeland mayoral election 2 May 2019 [5]
Party Candidate 1st round 2nd round
 First round votes  Transfer votes 
Total Of round Transfers Total Of round
Independent Mike Starkie 10,008 57%
​​
Labour Linda Jones-Bulman 4,544 26%
​​
Conservative Gerard McGrath 2,895 17%
​​
Turnout 17,447
Independent hold

References
  1. "Copeland mayor to get £20k pay rise - NW Evening Mail". Nwemail.co.uk. Retrieved 5 March 2017.
  2. "Mayoral referendum" (PDF). Copeland.gov.uk. Retrieved 19 June 2015.
  3. "News & Star | News | Copeland mayor election put back to May next year". Newsandstar.co.uk. 21 June 2014. Archived from the original on 19 May 2015. Retrieved 19 June 2015.
  4. "Copeland chooses Mike Starkie as first elected mayor". BBC News. 8 May 2015. Retrieved 9 November 2021.
  5. "Copeland Mayoral - Thursday, 2nd May, 2019". Copeland.gov.uk. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
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