Westmorland and Lonsdale
Notional 2005 Results:
Liberal Democrat: 21792 (46%)
Conservative: 20956 (44.3%)
Labour: 3651 (7.7%)
Other: 928 (2%)
Majority: 836 (1.8%)
Actual 2005 result
Conservative: 22302 (44.9%)
Labour: 3796 (7.6%)
Liberal Democrat: 22569 (45.5%)
UKIP: 660 (1.3%)
Other: 309 (0.6%)
Majority: 267 (0.5%)
2001 Result
Conservative: 22486 (46.9%)
Labour: 5234 (10.9%)
Liberal Democrat: 19339 (40.4%)
UKIP: 552 (1.2%)
Other: 292 (0.6%)
Majority: 3147 (6.6%)
1997 Result
Conservative: 21470 (42.3%)
Labour: 10459 (20.6%)
Liberal Democrat: 16949 (33.4%)
Referendum: 1931 (3.8%)
Majority: 4521 (8.9%)
Boundary changes: loses Broughton-in-Furness and part of the Crake Valley to Barrow & Furness.
Profile: A large rural seat in Cumbria. The seat includes Kendal, Windermere, Sedburgh, Kirkby Lonsdale and Ambleside, but not the historic county town of Appleby-in-Westmorland. It also includes Lake Windermere, Coniston Water and much of the Lake District. The local economy is largely based on agriculture and tourism. In 2005 the Conservative shadow minister Tim Collins was defeated in the seat, the lone victim of what had been described as a Liberal Democrat decapitation strategy against Conservative frontbenchers in marginal seats.
Current MP: Tim Farron (Lib Dem) born 1970, Preston. Educated at Lostock Hall School and University of Newcastle. Unsuccesfully contested Westmorland & Lonsdale in 2001 prior to his election in 2005. Served briefly as Lib Dem spokesman for youth affairs before being appointed as PPS to Menzies Campbell after the 2006 leadership election. Countryside spokesman from 2007, he resigned in March 2008 to support a referendum on the Lisbon treaty (more information at They work for you)
Candidates: 
John Wiseman (Labour) IT teacher. Former St Helens councillor.
John Mander (UKIP) born Ambleside. Educated at Oxford University. Former teacher and auctioneer. Contested Lancaster and Wyre 2005.
Gareth McKeever (Conservative) Executive Director at Morgan Stanley
2001 Census Demographics
Total 2001 Population: 82587
Male: 48.2%
Female: 51.8%
Under 18: 19.3%
Over 60: 27.7%
Born outside UK: 3%
White: 99.2%
Mixed: 0.4%
Other: 0.3%
Christian: 79%
Full time students: 2.8%
Graduates 16-74: 23.5%
No Qualifications 16-74: 23.9%
Owner-Occupied: 74.9%
Social Housing: 10.7% (Council: 7.6%, Housing Ass.: 3.1%)
Privately Rented: 10%
Homes without central heating and/or private bathroom: 9.5%
160 Responses
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Given current opinion polls, the Conservatives must have a reasonable chance here even though the Liberal Democrats may benefit from the “incumbency effect”. It’s all to play for.
July 20th, 2008 at 11:06 amWhat is Gareth McKeever’s background?
July 20th, 2008 at 11:11 amNo Peter, Scafell Pike is in Copeland, not Westmorland and Lonsdale.
July 20th, 2008 at 8:10 pmAnd the other two major peaks? I would guess Helvellyn is in Westmorland and lonsdale and Skiddaw in Penrith & the Border, but would welcome confirmation or correction.
July 21st, 2008 at 1:14 pmCopeland
It’s quite an interesting question as both the latter two mountains are sufficiently close to the points where three constituencies touch that one has to look quite carefully at the map.
Just to confirm, Scafell Pike is part of the Borough of Copeland (entirely in the constituency of the same name) which also has the nearby lake of Wast Water, hence Copeland’s tourism department promoting the area as having the Highest Mountain and Deepest Lake in England, and the Best View in Britain.
Skiddaw is actually (just) in the Workington constituency: it is a couple of miles to the north of the border of that seat with the new Copeland constituency and a couple of miles to the West of the constituency border with Penrith & the Borders.
The mountain of Helvellyn is shared between the new Copeland seat and Penrith & the Borders, with the line between those seats running over the mountain. It is quite close to the borders of both seats with Westmorland and Lonsdale.
The Western slopes of Helvellyn above Thirlmere are in the new Copeland seat: the rest of the mountain is in P&B. In terms of the exact wording of your question, the actual peak appears from the map on the Boundary commission site to be just inside Penrith and the Borders.
As Joe James Broughton keeps reminding me, mountains and lakes do not have votes, but they do have a huge impact on the social and economic situation of all six seats in Cumbria. They are also one of the things which make this county such a fantastic place to live.
July 22nd, 2008 at 8:47 amBradford South
The Liberal Democrats can generally benefit from tactical Labour votes to keep their heads above water in marginals, as they did in Truro in 1979 and Dorset Mid & Poole North in 2001 - but usually only when the Labour vote is about 20%.
July 22nd, 2008 at 5:41 pmIt will be interesting to see what happens to the Labour vote here, which is already very low - and what effect their absence could have.
Oh dear, you would have thought after their initial selection problems they would have got it right this time, but no. The Conservatives have selected a candidate from Northern Ireland who works in London. A great choice considering Farron has a huge LOCAL presence.
Farron majority 5000+ at next election.
July 23rd, 2008 at 9:37 amSurely thats because nobody actually thinks that the Tories are going to win this one back any time soon? I expect a big increase in the Lib Dem majority here next time, and I suspect that there has been a competition amongst potential candidates to avoid this seat like the plague. Gareth McKeever is just the unlucky individual that has been left holding the parcel just as the ticking stops.
July 23rd, 2008 at 10:14 amI should go on to say-just to be completely fair-that if Gareth can win this seat (which given its marginality on paper is a possibility in theory at least) then we really shouldn’t dismiss the great achievement that it will be. Unfortunately, the Lib Dems overturned a reasonable Tory majority in 2005 against the trend and since then localel ections and information on the state of the local party have confirmed the collapse in this constituency. If that can be turned around in one parliament, or rather over the next two years, then I would be very very surprised. Especially as the Lib Dems now have the incumbancy effect on their side.
July 23rd, 2008 at 10:19 amRuislip Northwood
Quite a lot of people in Cumbria are descended from immigrants from Northern Ireland, though this may be more true of west Cumberland than of Westmoreland
July 23rd, 2008 at 10:54 amPages: « 1 … 7 8 9 10 [11] Show All