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Town Hall & politics · Westmorland and Furness Council

The Liberal Democrats hold a majority on Westmorland and Furness Council

Culgaith is run by Westmorland and Furness Council, with Culgaith parish council for local matters. The Liberal Democrats have a majority on Westmorland and Furness Council. Its MP is Markus Campbell-Savours (Labour), member for Penrith and Solway.

Council tax 2026–27

£2,493

Band D, a year, the middle band every council sets its tax from.

Where it goes →
Band D council tax
£2,493
2026–27, a year
Ward councillors
2
1 ward · Westmorland and Furness
MP
Markus Campbell-Savours
Labour · Penrith and Solway
Turnout, July 2024
63%
Penrith and Solway · England 60%
What stands out · In brief

How Culgaith’s politics has changed since 2021

A majority on Westmorland and Furness Council

The Liberal Democrats hold a majority on Westmorland and Furness Council: 36 of its 65 seats as elected. Labour holds 15, the Conservatives 10, independents 2, the Greens 1 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’s in charge

Who holds the seats

Seats by party as elected. A party needs 33 of Westmorland and Furness’s 65 seats to run the council alone.

Unitary council · 65 councillorsWestmorland and Furness CouncilLiberal Democrat majority
GreenLabourLabourLabourLabourLabourLabourLabourLabourLabourLabourLabourLabourLabourLabourLabourLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratIndependentIndependentConservativeConservativeConservativeConservativeConservativeConservativeConservativeConservativeConservativeConservativeReform UK65seats
  • Liberal Democrat36
  • Labour15
  • Conservative10
  • Independent2
  • Green1
  • Reform UK1

Latest election: May 2022.

GreenLabourLiberal DemocratIndependentConservativeReform UK

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.

Who runs Culgaith

The councils that run Culgaith

One council runs every main service here.

Town or parish councilCulgaith parish council

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 Culgaith’s residents · Band D precept £36

Unitary councilWestmorland and Furness Council

Every main council service: schools, social care, roads, bins, planning, housing and libraries.

Website ↗

Who to ask

Bins and recyclingWestmorland and Furness Council
Planning applicationsWestmorland and Furness Council
Council housing and homelessnessWestmorland and Furness Council
Council tax billsWestmorland and Furness Council
Parks and leisure centresWestmorland and Furness Council
Allotments, play areas, benchesCulgaith parish council
Potholes, roads and streetlightsWestmorland and Furness Council
Schools and school placesWestmorland and Furness Council
Adult and children’s social careWestmorland and Furness Council
LibrariesWestmorland and Furness Council
Tips and recycling centresWestmorland and Furness Council
Police priorities and budgetCumbria Constabulary police and crime commissioner
Fire safety visitsCumbria PFCC - Fire and Rescue

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.

Who represents Culgaith

From the parish to Westminster

Every elected tier that speaks for Culgaith, from the most recent elections.

  1. 1
    Town or parishParish tier
    Culgaith parish council
  2. 2
    Westmorland and Furness Council1 ward · 2 councillors
    Mary RobinsonMichael Timothy Hanley
  3. 3
    Police and crime commissionerCumbria Constabulary · elected May 2024
    David Allen
  4. 4
    House of CommonsPenrith and Solway
LabourIndependent

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.

Councillors

2 councillors 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.

Alston and Fellside
426 residents · 7% in Culgaith
  • Mary RobinsonIndependent · May 2022
  • Michael Timothy HanleyLabour · May 2022
LabourIndependent
Show as a table
WardSeatsElectedWhen
Alston and Fellside7% in Culgaith · 426 residents2 seats · May 20222
Mary RobinsonMichael Timothy Hanley
May 2022

Councillors can resign, change party or sit as independents between elections; a by-election winner replaces someone not named here. Westmorland and Furness 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).

Local elections

Westmorland and Furness council election, May 2022

Results in the wards that make up Culgaith, as declared. Percentages are of votes cast for candidates in each ward; where a ward elects several councillors, each voter has that many votes.

Seats won in Culgaith’s wards2 seats · 5 May 2022
Independent1
Labour1

1 ward voted. Every seat in the town’s wards was up.

Next elections

No election is scheduled yet for Culgaith’s wards in Democracy Club’s list. Councils publish a notice of election about five weeks before polling day.

Who can I vote for? ↗
Alston and Fellside5 May 2022
Mary Robinson ElectedIndependent26.2%
Michael Timothy Hanley ElectedLabour21.9%
Ian LindleyLabour15.2%
Michael Richard BeveridgeConservative11.3%
Dale Andrew NormingtonConservative10.7%
Andy BakerLiberal Democrat10.7%
Richard Raymond William SandersonLiberal Democrat3.9%

3,757 votes for candidates · 2 seats, so 2 votes each

LabourConservativeLiberal DemocratIndependent

Candidates and results: Democracy Club (CC BY 4.0), from councils’ declared results; polling dates from Democracy Club’s EveryElection.

Parliament

Culgaith 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 Culgaith).

Penrith and Solway · general election4 July 2024
Markus Campbell-Savours ElectedLabour40.6%
Mark JenkinsonConservative29.9%
Matthew MoodyReform UK15.5%
Julia AglionbyLiberal Democrat9.6%
Susan Denham-SmithGreen3.5%
Chris JohnstonIndependent0.4%
Shaun LongSocial Democratic Party0.3%
Roy IvinsonIndependent0.2%

49,281 votes for candidates · majority 5,257

MP for Penrith and Solway

Markus Campbell-Savours

Labour, MP since 4 July 2024.

63%

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.

LabourConservativeLiberal DemocratReform UKGreenIndependentOther parties

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.

Council money

Culgaith’s Band D council tax is £2,493 a year

Where a Band D bill goes, what it has cost over the years, and what the councils plan to spend per resident.

COUNCIL TAXBand D · 2026–27 · a Band D home in Culgaith
Culgaith parish councilparish precept£36.05
Westmorland and Furness Councilcouncil£2,014.73
Cumbria PFCC - Policepolice and crime£338.94
Cumbria PFCC - Fire and Rescue Authorityfire and rescue£103.14
A year£2,492.86
Bills by band run from 6/9 of Band D (Band A) to 18/9 (Band H). Discounts and support reduce many bills.

Westmorland and Furness Council keeps £2,014.73 of a Band D bill (81%); the rest goes to the Culgaith parish council, the Cumbria PFCC - Police and the Cumbria PFCC - Fire and Rescue Authority.

Your bill by band

Band A 6/9£1,662
Band B 7/9£1,939
Band C 8/9£2,216
Band D 9/9£2,493
Band E 11/9£3,047
Band F 13/9£3,601
Band G 15/9£4,155
Band H 18/9£4,986

A Band D home in Culgaith, 2026–27, before discounts. The Valuation Office Agency’s band search gives any home’s band.

Council budgets per resident, 2026–27

ServiceWestmorland and Furnessvs England
Adult social care£540+£53
Children’s social care£241−£49
Roads and transport£92+£51
Housing (not council homes’ rents)£24−£37
Bins, street cleaning, environment£180+£61
Libraries, leisure, culture£38−£6
Planning and development£60+£34
Public health£43−£35
Running the council£71+£12
Other£0−£19
Culgaith’s councils, per residentEngland, all councils
Show as a table, with Cumbria
Westmorland and FurnessCulgaith’s councilsCumbriaEngland
Adult social care£540£540£487
Children’s social care£241£241£290
Roads and transport£92£92£41
Housing (not council homes’ rents)£24£24£61
Bins, street cleaning, environment£180£180£119
Libraries, leisure, culture£38£38£44
Planning and development£60£60£26
Public health£43£43£78
Running the council£71£71£59
Other£0£0£19
Total, schools apart£1,290£1,290£1,234

Net budgeted service spending, MHCLG Revenue Account budget 2026–27, per resident (ONS mid-2025 estimates). Schools are left out: academies are paid for directly by government, so council school budgets depend on how many schools have converted. Cumbria and England: all their councils together. Police, fire and transport authorities aren’t included.

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.

Get involved

Having a say in how Culgaith is run

Register to vote

It takes about five minutes online; the deadline is 12 working days before a poll.

gov.uk ↗
Contact your councillors or MP

Type a postcode to write to each of its councillors and its MP.

WriteToThem ↗
Report a pothole or a broken streetlight

GOV.UK sends the report to the council that looks after the road.

gov.uk ↗
Watch or speak at a council meeting

Council and committee meetings are open to the public, with agendas and minutes online.

westmorlandandfurness.gov.uk ↗
Comment on a planning application

Anyone can comment while an application is open for consultation.

westmorlandandfurness.gov.uk ↗
Stand for election

The rules, nomination papers and guidance for council candidates.

Electoral Commission ↗

Questions about how Culgaith is run

Which council runs Culgaith?

Culgaith is run by Westmorland and Furness Council.

Does Culgaith have a town council?

Yes: Culgaith has its own parish-tier council (Culgaith parish council; town councils are parish councils by another name), which adds £36 to a Band D bill in 2026–27.

Who is the MP for Culgaith?

Markus Campbell-Savours (Labour) is the MP for Penrith and Solway, which covers Culgaith.

How many councillors does Culgaith have?

2 ward councillors represent Culgaith’s 1 ward.

When are the next elections in Culgaith?

No election is scheduled yet in Democracy Club’s list for Culgaith’s wards. The next UK general election must be held by August 2029.

How much is council tax in Culgaith?

Band D council tax in Culgaith is £2,493 for 2026–27. Your bill depends on your home’s band, from A (6/9 of Band D) to H (18/9).

Who controls Westmorland and Furness Council?

The Liberal Democrats have a majority: 36 of 65 seats as elected. The council’s website lists who leads it now.

Who won the 2022 council election in Culgaith?

In Culgaith’s wards on 5 May 2022, Labour 1 · Independent 1 of the 2 seats up. Labour had the largest share of votes, 37.2%.

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.