Directly elected mayor of Copeland

Mayor of Copeland
Incumbent Mike Starkie
Style	No courtesy title or style
Appointer	Electorate of Copeland
Term length	Four years
Inaugural holder	Mike Starkie
Formation	May 2014 referendum
Deputy	Lena Hogg
Salary	£30,000
Website	http://www.copelandbc.gov.uk/section/mike-starkie-elected-mayor

The directly elected mayor of Copeland is a mayoralty, first elected on 7 May 2015, taking on the executive function of Copeland Borough Council in Cumbria, England. The current mayor is Mike Starkie, an independent.

Referendum

A petition to change the status of the borough from one with a leader and cabinet to one with an executive mayor was submitted in February 2014. On 22 May 2014, a referendum was held (concurrent with elections to the European Parliament), at which voters opted to change to a mayoral system.^[1]

Mayor of Copeland Referendum 22 May 2014
Choice	Votes	%
Elected Mayor	12,671	69.8
Cabinet System	5,489	30.2
Total votes	18,160	100.00

2015 election

The election was initially planned for October 2014, but this was later delayed to May 2015 to save money.^[2] The contest took place on the same day as the election of borough councillors and the UK general election.

Copeland mayoral election 7 May 2015 [3]
Party		Candidate	1st Round	%	2nd Round	Total	First Round Votes  Transfer Votes
	Independent	Mike Starkie	9,836	30.5%	5,397	15,233	​ ​
	Labour	Steve Gibbons	12,867	39.9%	1,662	14,529	​ ​
	Conservative	Chris Whiteside	9,509	29.5%			​ ​
Turnout			32,212
	Independent win

References

1. "Mayoral referendum" (PDF). Copeland.gov.uk. Retrieved 2015-06-19.
2. "News & Star | News | Copeland mayor election put back to May next year". Newsandstar.co.uk. 2014-06-21. Retrieved 2015-06-19.
3. "Copeland chooses Mike Starkie as first elected mayor - BBC News". Bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2015-06-19.