A new chairman and team of executive officers have been named at a Cumbrian Conservatives association.
Westmorland and Lonsdale Conservatives Association have appointed Pat Bell, member for Kendal Rural ward on South Lakeland District Council, as the association’s new chairwoman, Kevin Holmes will be vice-chair political, and Kevin Lancaster is vice-chair financial, or association treasurer.
Roger Bingham, a long-serving county, district and parish councillor from Milnthorpe, continues in his role as association president.
Cllr Bell is a keen supporter of the Young Farmers organisation and has worked as an EU Election Observer, mainly covering elections in the Middle East. She is a past employee of the district council, the Westmorland County Agricultural Society and has served for a number of years on New Hutton Parish Council.
“I was delighted to have been elected Chairman at the recent Westmorland & Lonsdale Conservative Association AGM – the first woman in the role for almost twenty years,” she said.
“The next few years will be critical for local politics in Kendal and wider Westmorland and Lonsdale – we have the results of the consultation on local government reform due any day now, and we are also being asked to consult on changes to the local parliamentary constituency by the Boundary Commission, all of which will change the political landscape quite considerably.”
Vice-chair political
Kevin Holmes joined the Conservative party at 21 years old and worked in agriculture including estate management before starting his own landscaping business in 1996. He sits on Levens Parish Council, has served as a South Lakeland District Councillor representing Bowness South and Levens for the past four years, and is also a governor for St Martin and St Mary CE Primary School.
Cllr Lancaster is currently chairman of Sedbergh Parish Council and has served as a district councillor representing Sedbergh and Kirkby Lonsdale since 1997. He is also a former Chairman of the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority – the only Cumbrian ever to have held the office.
