Photo: Rose and Trev Clough · CC BY-SA 2.0Labour holds a majority on Cumberland Council
Blackwell is run by Cumberland Council, with St Cuthbert Without parish council for local matters. Labour has a majority on Cumberland Council. Its MP is Markus Campbell-Savours (Labour), member for Penrith and Solway.
£2,456
Band D, a year, the middle band every council sets its tax from.
Where it goes →How Blackwell’s politics has changed since 2021
A majority on Cumberland Council
Labour holds a majority on Cumberland Council: 29 of its 46 seats as elected. The Conservatives hold 7, the Liberal Democrats 4, independents 3, the Greens 2 and Reform UK 1. Who’s in charge ↓
Written from the data on this page: Democracy Club results since May 2021, the UK Parliament Members API and MHCLG council tax.
Who holds the seats
Seats by party as elected. A party needs 24 of Cumberland’s 46 seats to run the council alone.
- Labour29
- Conservative7
- Liberal Democrat4
- Independent3
- Green2
- Reform UK1
Latest election: May 2022.
Seats are counted from election results: each ward’s most recent winners until its seats are filled. Councillors who have since changed party or resigned aren’t reflected, and which parties lead the council, and who is leader, comes from the council itself.
Results: Democracy Club (CC BY 4.0), elections since May 2021; seats per ward from its EveryElection.
The councils that run Blackwell
One council runs every main service here.
Local matters: allotments, play areas, halls, footpaths and benches; it is consulted on planning and adds a precept to the council tax bill. A town council is a parish council by another name.
100% of Blackwell’s residents · Band D precept £11
Every main council service: schools, social care, roads, bins, planning, housing and libraries.
Website ↗Who to ask
From GOV.UK’s “Understand how your council works”: here one council runs every main service.
Councils from ONS lookups (wards and councils May 2026, parishes 2025), names and websites from GOV.UK’s local council finder; parish councils from MHCLG’s 2026–27 list of precepting parishes.
From the parish to Westminster
Every elected tier that speaks for Blackwell, from the most recent elections.
- 1Town or parishParish tierSt Cuthbert Without parish council
- 2Cumberland Council1 ward · 1 councillorGareth Michael Ellis
- 3Police and crime commissionerCumbria Constabulary · elected May 2024David Allen
- 4House of CommonsPenrith and Solway
Party colours are neutral on purpose: they tell parties apart and aren’t the parties’ own. Tap an MP’s name for their contact page on parliament.uk.
1 councillor for 1 ward
Wards with at least 2% of the town’s residents, or half their own inside it. Each shows who won its most recent elections, newest first, until its seats are filled.
- Gareth Michael EllisConservative · October 2024 · by-election
Show as a table
| Ward | Seats | Elected | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wetheral4% in Blackwell · 298 residents1 seat · October 2024 | 1 | Gareth Michael Ellisby-election | October 2024 |
Councillors can resign, change party or sit as independents between elections; a by-election winner replaces someone not named here. Cumberland Council’s website lists who sits now.
Results from Democracy Club’s candidates database (CC BY 4.0; elections since May 2021) and ward seats from its EveryElection, matched to ONS wards (May 2026) and county divisions (May 2025).
Cumberland council election, May 2022
Results in the wards that make up Blackwell, as declared. Percentages are of votes cast for candidates in each ward; where a ward elects several councillors, each voter has that many votes.
1 ward voted. Every seat in the town’s wards was up.
No election is scheduled yet for Blackwell’s wards in Democracy Club’s list. Councils publish a notice of election about five weeks before polling day.
Who can I vote for? ↗2,199 votes for candidates
Candidates and results: Democracy Club (CC BY 4.0), from councils’ declared results; polling dates from Democracy Club’s EveryElection.
Blackwell is in Penrith and Solway constituency
The constituency’s MP and the 4 July 2024 general election, the whole constituency’s result (it reaches beyond Blackwell).
49,281 votes for candidates · majority 5,257
Labour, MP since 4 July 2024.
turnout in July 2024: 49,281 votes from 77,935 registered voters. England: 60%.
Majority 5,257 of 49,281 votes (10.7%): the 202nd-narrowest of 543 in England.
MPs and results: UK Parliament Members API (Open Parliament Licence v3.0); constituencies from ONS (2024 boundaries). Percentages are of valid votes; turnout is votes cast over the electorate.
Blackwell’s Band D council tax is £2,456 a year
Where a Band D bill goes, what it has cost over the years, and what the councils plan to spend per resident.
Cumberland Council keeps £2,002.64 of a Band D bill (82%); the rest goes to the St Cuthbert Without parish council, the Cumbria PFCC - Police and the Cumbria PFCC - Fire and Rescue Authority.
Your bill by band
A Band D home in St Cuthbert Without, 2026–27, before discounts. The Valuation Office Agency’s band search gives any home’s band.
Cumberland Council hasn’t filed its 2026–27 Revenue Account budget with MHCLG (the department lists it as missing), so its spending per resident isn’t shown.
Band D: MHCLG Band D council tax 2026–27 (each authority’s own figure, excluding parish precepts) and Council Tax statistics for town and parish councils 2026–27; since 1993–94, MHCLG’s area averages including parishes.
Having a say in how Blackwell is run
It takes about five minutes online; the deadline is 12 working days before a poll.
gov.uk ↗Type a postcode to write to each of its councillors and its MP.
WriteToThem ↗GOV.UK sends the report to the council that looks after the road.
gov.uk ↗Council and committee meetings are open to the public, with agendas and minutes online.
cumberland.gov.uk ↗Anyone can comment while an application is open for consultation.
cumberland.gov.uk ↗The rules, nomination papers and guidance for council candidates.
Electoral Commission ↗Questions about how Blackwell is run
Which council runs Blackwell?
Blackwell is run by Cumberland Council.
Does Blackwell have a town council?
Yes: Blackwell has its own parish-tier council (St Cuthbert Without parish council; town councils are parish councils by another name), which adds £11 to a Band D bill in 2026–27.
Who is the MP for Blackwell?
Markus Campbell-Savours (Labour) is the MP for Penrith and Solway, which covers Blackwell.
How many councillors does Blackwell have?
1 ward councillors represent Blackwell’s 1 ward.
When are the next elections in Blackwell?
No election is scheduled yet in Democracy Club’s list for Blackwell’s wards. The next UK general election must be held by August 2029.
How much is council tax in Blackwell?
Band D council tax in Blackwell is £2,456 for 2026–27. Your bill depends on your home’s band, from A (6/9 of Band D) to H (18/9).
Who controls Cumberland Council?
Labour has a majority: 29 of 46 seats as elected. The council’s website lists who leads it now.
Who won the 2022 council election in Blackwell?
In Blackwell’s wards on 5 May 2022, Conservative 1 of the 1 seats up. The Conservatives had the largest share of votes, 53.3%.
Sources: ONS ward, county division, parish, constituency lookups (Census 2021 output areas; Open Government Licence v3.0) · GOV.UK local council finder · Democracy Club candidates (CC BY 4.0) and EveryElection · UK Parliament Members API (Open Parliament Licence v3.0) · MHCLG Band D council tax, parish precepts and Revenue Account budgets 2026–27 (OGL v3.0) · ONS mid-2025 population estimates. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.