Plans put in place for joint General Election/Local election

(Date of issue: Monday, 1 March 2010)

Carlisle City Council has confirmed that Carlisle’s Parliamentary Election result will be announced on the same night as the polling day, in line with the city’s tradition for a general election count.

The City Council has developed contingency plans for the rare occurrence of the City Council elections falling on the same day as the local election. If this happens, Carlisle City Council’s Returning Officer, Maggie Mooney, will guarantee that the Carlisle General Election count will take place as soon as polling stations close.

If the General Election is held on the same day as the local City Council Elections (Thursday, 6 May 2010), plans have been put in place to count the Parliamentary ballot papers on the same evening and the City Council ballot papers, for the 17 wards up for election, the next morning (Friday, 7 May).

Maggie Mooney, Carlisle City Council Returning Officer and Town Clerk & Chief Executive, said:

“After consulting with staff involved in the count and taking into count our tradition of counting on the night of the election, we’ve decided to make an early decision on when the elections counts – General and City Council – will take place.

“This is not a decision that we’ve taken lightly, as the welfare of election staff is a major consideration. We’ve now put plans in place to ensure that we have staff in place to meet the needs and demands of both counts.”

Carlisle City Council Elections will be held in: Belah; Belle Vue; Brampton; Botcherby; Castle; Currock; Dalston; Denton Holme; Harraby; Longtown & Rockcliffe; Morton; St Aidans; Stanwix Rural; Stanwix Urban; Upperby; Wetheral and Yewdale wards.

Boundary Commission changes to English parliamentary constituency boundaries will come into force at the next General Election. The Carlisle constituency currently includes the 12 urban city wards, together with Burgh and Dalston wards. At the next General Election, the constituency will be enlarged to include the Wetheral ward, which will transfer from the Penrith and the Border constituency. At present, the Carlisle constituency has 61,800 electors; the new constituency will have 65,200.