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Town Hall & politics · Cumberland Council

Labour holds a majority on Cumberland Council

Dearham is run by Cumberland Council, with Dearham parish council for local matters. Labour has a majority on Cumberland Council. Its MP is Markus Campbell-Savours (Labour), member for Penrith and Solway.

Council tax 2026–27

£2,504

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

Where it goes →
Band D council tax
£2,504
2026–27, a year
Ward councillors
1
1 ward · Cumberland
MP
Markus Campbell-Savours
Labour · Penrith and Solway
Turnout, July 2024
63%
Penrith and Solway · England 60%
What stands out · In brief

How Dearham’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’s in charge

Who holds the seats

Seats by party as elected. A party needs 24 of Cumberland’s 46 seats to run the council alone.

Unitary council · 46 councillorsCumberland CouncilLabour majority
GreenGreenLabourLabourLabourLabourLabourLabourLabourLabourLabourLabourLabourLabourLabourLabourLabourLabourLabourLabourLabourLabourLabourLabourLabourLabourLabourLabourLabourLabourLabourLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratIndependentIndependentIndependentConservativeConservativeConservativeConservativeConservativeConservativeConservativeReform UK46seats
  • Labour29
  • Conservative7
  • Liberal Democrat4
  • Independent3
  • Green2
  • 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 Dearham

The councils that run Dearham

One council runs every main service here.

Town or parish councilDearham 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 Dearham’s residents · Band D precept £60

Unitary councilCumberland Council

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

Website ↗

Who to ask

Bins and recyclingCumberland Council
Planning applicationsCumberland Council
Council housing and homelessnessCumberland Council
Council tax billsCumberland Council
Parks and leisure centresCumberland Council
Allotments, play areas, benchesDearham parish council
Potholes, roads and streetlightsCumberland Council
Schools and school placesCumberland Council
Adult and children’s social careCumberland Council
LibrariesCumberland Council
Tips and recycling centresCumberland 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 Dearham

From the parish to Westminster

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

  1. 1
    Town or parishParish tier
    Dearham parish council
  2. 2
    Cumberland Council1 ward · 1 councillor
    Martin Trevor Mundahl Harris
  3. 3
    Police and crime commissionerCumbria Constabulary · elected May 2024
    David Allen
  4. 4
    House of CommonsPenrith and Solway
Labour

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

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.

Dearham and Broughton
2,344 residents · 39% in Dearham
  • Martin Trevor Mundahl HarrisLabour · May 2022
Labour
Show as a table
WardSeatsElectedWhen
Dearham and Broughton39% in Dearham · 2,344 residents1 seat · May 20221
Martin Trevor Mundahl Harris
May 2022

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).

Local elections

Cumberland council election, May 2022

Results in the wards that make up Dearham, 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 Dearham’s wards1 seat · 5 May 2022
Labour1

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

Next elections

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

Who can I vote for? ↗
Dearham and Broughton5 May 2022
Martin Trevor Mundahl Harris ElectedLabour43.9%
Neil Richard RumboldConservative29.8%
Nicky CockburnIndependent26.3%

1,837 votes for candidates

LabourConservativeIndependent

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

Parliament

Dearham 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 Dearham).

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

Dearham’s Band D council tax is £2,504 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 Dearham
Dearham parish councilparish precept£59.72
Cumberland Councilcouncil£2,002.64
Cumbria PFCC - Policepolice and crime£338.94
Cumbria PFCC - Fire and Rescue Authorityfire and rescue£103.14
A year£2,504.44
Bills by band run from 6/9 of Band D (Band A) to 18/9 (Band H). Discounts and support reduce many bills.

Cumberland Council keeps £2,002.64 of a Band D bill (80%); the rest goes to the Dearham parish council, the Cumbria PFCC - Police and the Cumbria PFCC - Fire and Rescue Authority.

Your bill by band

Band A 6/9£1,670
Band B 7/9£1,948
Band C 8/9£2,226
Band D 9/9£2,504
Band E 11/9£3,061
Band F 13/9£3,618
Band G 15/9£4,174
Band H 18/9£5,009

A Band D home in Dearham, 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.

Get involved

Having a say in how Dearham 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.

cumberland.gov.uk ↗
Comment on a planning application

Anyone can comment while an application is open for consultation.

cumberland.gov.uk ↗
Stand for election

The rules, nomination papers and guidance for council candidates.

Electoral Commission ↗

Questions about how Dearham is run

Which council runs Dearham?

Dearham is run by Cumberland Council.

Does Dearham have a town council?

Yes: Dearham has its own parish-tier council (Dearham parish council; town councils are parish councils by another name), which adds £60 to a Band D bill in 2026–27.

Who is the MP for Dearham?

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

How many councillors does Dearham have?

1 ward councillors represent Dearham’s 1 ward.

When are the next elections in Dearham?

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

How much is council tax in Dearham?

Band D council tax in Dearham is £2,504 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 Dearham?

In Dearham’s wards on 5 May 2022, Labour 1 of the 1 seats up. Labour had the largest share of votes, 43.9%.

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.