Photo: Mike Faherty · CC BY-SA 2.0Labour holds a majority on Cumberland Council
Longtown is run by Cumberland Council, with Arthuret parish council for local matters. Labour has a majority on Cumberland Council. Its MP is Ms Julie Minns (Labour), member for Carlisle.
£2,560
Band D, a year, the middle band every council sets its tax from.
Where it goes →How Longtown’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 Longtown
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 Longtown’s residents · Band D precept £115
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 Longtown, from the most recent elections.
- 1Town or parishParish tierArthuret parish council
- 2Cumberland Council1 ward · 1 councillorTim Pickstone
- 3Police and crime commissionerCumbria Constabulary · elected May 2024David Allen
- 4House of CommonsCarlisle
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.
- Tim PickstoneLiberal Democrat · May 2022
Show as a table
| Ward | Seats | Elected | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| Longtown43% in Longtown · 2,176 residents1 seat · May 2022 | 1 | Tim Pickstone | 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).
Cumberland council election, May 2022
Results in the wards that make up Longtown, 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 Longtown’s wards in Democracy Club’s list. Councils publish a notice of election about five weeks before polling day.
Who can I vote for? ↗1,434 votes for candidates
Candidates and results: Democracy Club (CC BY 4.0), from councils’ declared results; polling dates from Democracy Club’s EveryElection.
Longtown is in Carlisle constituency
The constituency’s MP and the 4 July 2024 general election, the whole constituency’s result (it reaches beyond Longtown).
45,979 votes for candidates · majority 5,200
Labour, MP since 4 July 2024.
turnout in July 2024: 45,979 votes from 77,863 registered voters. England: 60%.
Majority 5,200 of 45,979 votes (11.3%): the 215th-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.
Longtown’s Band D council tax is £2,560 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 (78%); the rest goes to the Arthuret parish council, the Cumbria PFCC - Police and the Cumbria PFCC - Fire and Rescue Authority.
Your bill by band
A Band D home in Arthuret, 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 Longtown 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 Longtown is run
Which council runs Longtown?
Longtown is run by Cumberland Council.
Does Longtown have a town council?
Yes: Longtown has its own parish-tier council (Arthuret parish council; town councils are parish councils by another name), which adds £115 to a Band D bill in 2026–27.
Who is the MP for Longtown?
Ms Julie Minns (Labour) is the MP for Carlisle, which covers Longtown.
How many councillors does Longtown have?
1 ward councillors represent Longtown’s 1 ward.
When are the next elections in Longtown?
No election is scheduled yet in Democracy Club’s list for Longtown’s wards. The next UK general election must be held by August 2029.
How much is council tax in Longtown?
Band D council tax in Longtown is £2,560 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 Longtown?
In Longtown’s wards on 5 May 2022, Liberal Democrat 1 of the 1 seats up. The Liberal Democrats had the largest share of votes, 66.2%.
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.