Mike Starkie

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 after coming first due to him 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'd 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 the 1st April 2023.

Mr Starkie also played a strong role in the Whitehaven coal mine project, cited by many as a national embarrassment in the run up to the 2021 UK hosted climate summit.

Election results
Copeland mayoral election 7 May 2015
Party Candidate 1st round 2nd round
 First round votes  Transfer votes 
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 [6]
Party Candidate 1st round 2nd round
 First round votes  Transfer votes 
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
  1. "Copeland chooses Mike Starkie as first elected mayor". BBC News.
  2. "Elected Mayor of Copeland, Mike Starkie". Copeland Borough Council.
  3. "Thousands of ballot papers rejected in Copeland mayor election". itv News. 8 May 2015. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
  4. "Independent Mayor Mike Starkie joins Conservatives". Whitehaven News.
  5. "Let the people vote on Mayor – Starkie". The Mail.
  6. "Copeland Mayoral - Thursday, 2nd May, 2019". Copeland.gov.uk. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
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