Mike Starkie is a British Conservative politician who was the directly elected mayor of Copeland, for the Borough of Copeland in Cumbria.[1]
He stood as an Independent, winning the 2015 election and beating the Labour candidate after transfer votes (the Conservatives were eliminated after coming last in the first round of votes).[2][3] In June 2020, dropping his 'Independent' stance, announcing he had joined the Conservative Party.[4]
He is supportive of elected mayors, and has called for a referendum on having an elected mayor for the whole county of Cumbria.[5] Starkie was the first and only Mayor of Copeland. His position was established (after a referendum) to replace the role of a Council leader and Cabinet. It was abolished as part of the local government reorganisation in Cumbria on 1 April 2023.
Starkie supported the Whitehaven coal mine project.[6]
Election results
| Copeland mayoral election 7 May 2015 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | 1st round | 2nd round | 1st round votesTransfer votes, 2nd round | |||||
| Total | Of round | Transfers | Total | Of round | |||||
| Independent | Mike Starkie | 9,836 | 30.5% | 5,397 | 15,233 | 51.2% |
| ||
| Labour | Steve Gibbons | 12,867 | 39.9% | 1,662 | 14,529 | 48.8% |
| ||
| Conservative | Chris Whiteside | 9,509 | 29.5% |
| |||||
| Turnout | 32,212 | ||||||||
| Independent win | |||||||||
| Copeland mayoral election 2 May 2019[7] | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | 1st round | 2nd round | 1st round votesTransfer votes, 2nd round | ||||
| Total | Of round | Transfers | Total | Of round | ||||
| Independent | Mike Starkie | 10,008 | 57% |
| ||||
| Labour | Linda Jones-Bulman | 4,544 | 26% |
| ||||
| Conservative | Gerard McGrath | 2,895 | 17% |
| ||||
| Turnout | 17,447 | |||||||
| Independent hold | ||||||||
References
- ^ "Copeland chooses Mike Starkie as first elected mayor". BBC News.
- ^ "Elected Mayor of Copeland, Mike Starkie". Copeland Borough Council.
- ^ "Thousands of ballot papers rejected in Copeland mayor election". itv News. 8 May 2015. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
- ^ "Independent Mayor Mike Starkie joins Conservatives". Whitehaven News.
- ^ "Let the people vote on Mayor – Starkie". The Mail.
- ^ "Former mayor says coalmine decision 'disappointing'". BBC News. 13 July 2024. Retrieved 24 November 2024.
- ^ "Copeland Mayoral - Thursday, 2nd May, 2019". Copeland.gov.uk. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
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