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[Category: Combined authorities and combined county authorities]
[Category: Combined authorities and combined county authorities]
The Cumbria Combined Authority is a proposed combined authority comprising the non-metropolitan counties of Cumberland and Westmorland and Furness. The region will have a directly elected mayor, with elections to be held in May 2027[1].
Plans for restructuring local government in Cumbria have been widely discussed, with plans seeing the county split into two authorities; East and West, the Cumberland and Westmorland and Furness authorities[2]. These two new authorities replaced Cumbria County Council, which ceased to exist on 1st April 2023 – duties, including roads, schools and social services, fell to the newly created authorities.
Discussions for a devolution deal for the county began before Cumbria County Council’s abolition, with Michael Gove, the then Secretary of State for Housing, Local Government and Communities expressing his wish to extend devolution to the county, once the process of establishing new councils had completed.[3]
A deal put to Cumberland and Westmorland and Furness councils in 2025 included more powers and funding for transport, skills and housing through a Devolution Framework, which would transfer some powers currently held by the UK Government to the new combined authority[4]. Five voting members of the combined authority would exist, with four coming from the two councils and one being the directly-elected mayor.
The deal was accepted by both councils on 14 October 2025[5].
Elections for the first Mayor of Cumbria will be held in May 2027.
Mike Starkie, former Mayor of Copeland, was selected as the Conservative Party candidate[6].
Rory Stewart, former MP for Penrith and the Border, has refused to rule out running for the mayoralty as an independent[7].
