# 2006 South Lakeland District Council election

The 2006 South Lakeland District Council election took place on 4 May 2006 to elect members of South Lakeland District Council in Cumbria, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Liberal Democrats gained overall control of the council from no overall control.
After the election, the composition of the council was:
* Liberal Democrat 31
* Conservative 18
* Labour 2
* Independent 1

## Background

Candidates in the election included a Save Westmorland Hospital Group, opposed to any reduced services at Westmorland General Hospital. Meanwhile, councillors who stood down at the election included cabinet member Bob Barker and long time independent Elizabeth Braithwaite.

## Election result

The results saw the Liberal Democrats win a majority on the council after gaining 9 seats, 6 from Labour, 2 from the Conservatives and 1 from an independent. This gave the Liberal Democrats 31 seats and was the first time that a political party had won a majority on the council. The 6 Liberal Democrat gains from Labour were all in Kendal, as well as 1 of the 2 gains from the Conservatives. The other 2 seats they gained were Sedbergh from the Conservatives and Lakes Grasmere, where the independent councillor had stepped down at the election.
South Lakeland Local Election Result 2006 :
| Party | Seats | Gains | Losses | Net gain/loss | Seats % | Votes % | Votes | +/− |
| Liberal Democrats | 17 | 9 | 0 | +9 | 94.4 | 66.4 | 10,131 | +28.8% |
| Conservative | 1 | 0 | 2 | -2 | 5.6 | 22.8 | 3,475 | -24.5% |
| Labour | 0 | 0 | 6 | -6 | 0 | 8.0 | 1,218 | +1.0% |
| Independent | 0 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 0 | 1.6 | 251 | -4.2% |
| Save Westmorland Hospital Group | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 | 150 | New |
| Green | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.2 | 35 | -1.5% |

## Ward results

Kendal Castle :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | Sonia Lawson* | 612 | 75.2 | +23.5 |
| | Conservative | Enid Robinson | 202 | 24.8 | −15.4 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 410 | 50.4 | +38.9 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 814 | 55.3 | +11.3 |
| | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | | |
Kendal Far Cross :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | Enda Farrell | 512 | 73.6 | +39.2 |
| | Conservative | Simon Butterfield* | 152 | 21.8 | −22.1 |
| | Labour | Nicola Wright | 32 | 4.6 | −17.0 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 360 | 51.8 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 696 | 45.7 | +6.9 |
| | Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative | Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative | Swing | | |
Kendal Fell :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | Paul Little** | 435 | 62.9 | +23.0 |
| | Labour | Robin Yates* | 179 | 25.9 | −21.7 |
| | Conservative | Jack Tomlinson | 78 | 11.3 | −1.2 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 256 | 37.0 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 692 | 46.8 | +11.2 |
| | Liberal Democrats gain from Labour | Liberal Democrats gain from Labour | Swing | | |
* Paul Little was a sitting councillor for the Kendal Highgate ward.
Kendal Glebelands :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | Sylvia Emmott | 559 | 70.7 | +34.6 |
| | Labour | Robert Rothwell* | 138 | 17.4 | −22.4 |
| | Conservative | Pamela Flitcroft | 94 | 11.9 | −12.2 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 421 | 53.3 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 791 | 53.7 | +7.3 |
| | Liberal Democrats gain from Labour | Liberal Democrats gain from Labour | Swing | | |
Kendal Heron Hill :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | Stephen Shine* | 649 | 81.2 | +17.5 |
| | Conservative | Katherine Nicholson | 150 | 18.8 | −5.1 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 499 | 62.4 | +22.6 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 799 | 49.1 | +10.3 |
| | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | | |
Kendal Highgate :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | Clive Graham | 396 | 57.6 | +14.2 |
| | Labour | Marilyn Molloy | 217 | 31.5 | −9.9 |
| | Conservative | Eric Wright | 75 | 10.9 | −4.3 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 179 | 26.1 | +24.1 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 688 | 51.0 | +8.8 |
| | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | | |
Kendal Kirkland :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | Robert Cocker | 345 | 65.5 | +49.3 |
| | Labour | Avril Dobson* | 109 | 20.7 | −43.7 |
| | Conservative | Lucia Cartmell | 43 | 8.2 | −11.2 |
| | Save Westmorland Hospital Group | Andrew Billson-Page | 30 | 5.7 | N/A |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 236 | 44.8 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 527 | 38.9 | +9.9 |
| | Liberal Democrats gain from Labour | Liberal Democrats gain from Labour | Swing | | |
Kendal Mintsfeet :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | Gwendoline Murfin** | 479 | 60.1 | +17.5 |
| | Independent | Nigel Blamire | 189 | 23.7 | N/A |
| | Conservative | Andrew Coates | 129 | 16.2 | −9.6 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 290 | 36.4 | +25.4 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 797 | 48.3 | +13.0 |
| | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | | |
* Gwendoline Murfin was a sitting councillor for the Kendal Oxenholme ward.
Kendal Nether :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | Clare Feeney-Johnson | 471 | 65.9 | +22.5 |
| | Labour | Paul Braithwaite* | 182 | 25.5 | −18.9 |
| | Conservative | Melvin Mackie | 62 | 8.7 | −3.5 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 289 | 40.4 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 715 | 50.2 | +4.4 |
| | Liberal Democrats gain from Labour | Liberal Democrats gain from Labour | Swing | | |
Kendal Oxenholme :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | Jonathan Brook | 626 | 74.0 | +16.5 |
| | Conservative | Geoffrey Robson | 99 | 11.7 | −12.7 |
| | Independent | Nigel Byrom | 62 | 7.3 | N/A |
| | Labour | Keith Fawcett | 31 | 3.7 | −14.4 |
| | Save Westmorland Hospital Group | Anna Billson-Page | 28 | 3.3 | N/A |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 527 | 62.3 | +29.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 846 | 46.4 | +10.2 |
| | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | | |
Kendal Parks :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | Brendan Jameson* | 528 | 74.9 | +1.6 |
| | Conservative | Olga Lewis | 96 | 13.6 | −5.1 |
| | Save Westmorland Hospital Group | Leonard Edgar | 46 | 6.5 | N/A |
| | Green | Jonathan Briggs | 35 | 5.0 | N/A |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 432 | 61.3 | +6.7 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 705 | 43.0 | +10.2 |
| | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | | |
Kendal Stonecross :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | Graham Vincent* | 643 | 68.6 | +9.8 |
| | Conservative | Richard Liddle | 215 | 22.9 | −10.9 |
| | Labour | Jennifer Rothwell | 79 | 8.4 | +1.0 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 428 | 45.7 | +20.7 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 937 | 58.8 | +6.1 |
| | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | | |
Kendal Strickland :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | Stephen Coleman | 671 | 74.8 | +55.3 |
| | Conservative | Helen Graham | 116 | 12.9 | −6.6 |
| | Labour | Mark Kidd | 110 | 12.3 | −48.7 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 555 | 61.9 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 897 | 52.9 | +16.0 |
| | Liberal Democrats gain from Labour | Liberal Democrats gain from Labour | Swing | | |
Kendal Underley :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | Robert Curry | 488 | 66.5 | +46.1 |
| | Labour | Martyn Jowett | 141 | 19.2 | −44.6 |
| | Conservative | David Williams | 59 | 8.0 | −7.8 |
| | Save Westmorland Hospital Group | Charles Batteson* | 46 | 6.3 | −57.5 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 357 | 47.3 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 734 | 49.1 | +5.7 |
| | Liberal Democrats gain from Labour | Liberal Democrats gain from Labour | Swing | | |
* Charles Batteson was originally elected as a Labour councillor.
Kirkby Lonsdale (by-election) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Rodger Read | 531 | 57.8 | −3.4 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Jennifer Foot | 388 | 42.2 | +36.3 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 143 | 15.6 | −12.7 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 919 | 48.8 | −5.4 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
Lakes Ambleside :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | David Earnshaw | 1,018 | 69.3 | +24.5 |
| | Conservative | John Curwen | 452 | 30.7 | −17.1 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 566 | 38.6 | +30.6 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,470 | 51.4 | +12.8 |
| | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | | |
Lakes Grasmere :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | Vivienne Rees | 433 | 70.5 | N/A |
| | Conservative | Thomas Holden | 181 | 29.5 | N/A |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 252 | 41.0 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 614 | 53.5 | N/A |
| | Liberal Democrats gain from Independent | Liberal Democrats gain from Independent | Swing | | |
Sedbergh :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | Craig Stephenson | 878 | 54.2 | +26.7 |
| | Conservative | David Wilson | 741 | 45.8 | −26.7 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 137 | 8.4 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,619 | 57.8 | +20.4 |
| | Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative | Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative | Swing | | |