I'm Mike Starkie, the Conservative candidate for Mayor of Cumbria. Cumbria's first Mayoral election will be held in May 2027
I am a born-and-raised Cumbrian from a large West Cumbrian family. My working life has consisted of ten years working in construction largely at Sellafield on what was then the largest construction site in Europe. I was also on the construction of Devonshire Hall in Barrow shipyard in the late eighties before embarking on a highly successful 32-year career in the financial services sector, having held senior management positions in multinational companies and owned and managed my own business.
I have also been involved in local sports clubs for many years. I understand Cumbria and its communities. The direction of the county, the decisions taken, and the outcomes for communities and businesses here in Cumbria matter to me and to generations of my family.
As Mayoral candidate, I bring a successful record of accomplishment in both the private sector and having previously led a council as an elected mayor when I built a track record of engaging successfully with businesses and government to attract unprecedented levels of funding and investment.
In 2015, the people of Copeland elected me as their Mayor, Cumbria’s first and so far only directly elected mayor. Four years later, they re-elected me with almost double the original share of the vote, the largest in Copeland for generations.
When I took office in 2015, I inherited a bankrupt council from Labour. The council carried multiple vacancies, many of which had been unfilled for years, and relied on many staff positions being covered by a costly rotation of interim staff and consultants. The council was in disarray. Public anger was so strong that residents had forced a referendum to change the governance model to a mayoral authority, and 75 percent voted in favour.
Over my eight years as Mayor, the council turned a £13.2 million inherited overspend into a surplus. We filled every vacancy with full-time staff, and we balanced the budget every single year. We reduced debts and liabilities by many £millions and absorbed £24 million of central funding reductions.
Throughout my eight-year term, we never borrowed a single penny and Copeland's council tax increases were kept below 2% every year I was in office taking Copeland from having the highest rate of tax in Cumbria to one of the lowest.
A targeted disposal of non-income producing assets means that land is now being developed for housing and commercial projects that will generate hundreds of thousands of pounds in council tax and business rates for years to come.
Grant funding was also used to secure income-producing assets. Notably, Copeland became the only local authority in the UK to buy their way out of a financially crippling PFI, taking the asset under council ownership and securing a rental deal that now generates £500,000 per year in income. This deal alone was worth £25m to council tax payers.
I also fulfilled my election pledge to reduce the number of councillors. In 2015 Copeland was served by a total of 63 Borough and County Councillors. By the conclusion of my term in 2023, that had reduced to just 12.
Over my administration, I significantly reduced the council tax burden in Copeland, cut fees and charges for residents, and invested millions of pounds in improving services.
Compare and contrast that with local Labour councils and Police and Crime Commissioners - hiking council tax by as much as they're allowed at every opportunity.
I led from the front on local government reorganisation and have been a leading advocate in the county for devolution and for a Cumbria Mayor over the last decade. While I know that some remain to be convinced by Mayoral devolution, I believe that taking powers and funding from Whitehall and putting them in the hands of local people - the right hands at least - will lead to better outcomes
Here in Cumbria, the offices of the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner and of Enterprising Cumbria (formerly the Local Enterprise Partnership) will be rolled into the Mayoral Combined Authority. This will not be duplication.
I know some ask why the councils were reorganised in 2022, only to create this new layer. Local Government Reorganisation was phase one, a reduction of seven councils to two. Those two councils will be represented on the new Mayoral Combined Authority due to come into being in April 2026 ahead of the Mayoral election in May 2027.
But those councils are, rightly, concentrating on delivering the services that we all rely on - schools, social care, roads and bin collections.
Having an authoritative voice, speaking for the whole of the county and setting strategic direction will give businesses the confidence to build and grow here, meaning more, better-paying jobs. It will mean more joined-up thinking across the county when it comes to transport and development, and across council services and blue-light services. And, more importantly, it means that you have someone to hold directly to account for those things.
I'm keen to understand what would make life better for you, your family and your community here in Cumbria - whether that's things that the a Mayor can do through the new Combined Authority, or that our councils and government can do.
Please take a few minutes to let me have your thoughts on your priorities for a new Mayor of Cumbria.
between now and the election, I'm looking forward to communicating my plans for Cumbria, informed by your priorities and those of residents across the county. Please do let me know if you can help me in my efforts.
With best wishes,