Copeland (borough)

For the constituency of the same name, see Copeland (UK Parliament constituency).

Coordinates: 54°25′52″N 3°23′20″W / 54.431°N 3.389°W / 54.431; -3.389

Borough of Copeland
—  Borough  —
Arms of Copeland Borough Council
Shown within Cumbria
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Constituent country	England
Region	North West England
Ceremonial county	Cumbria
Founded
Admin. HQ	Whitehaven
Government
– Type	Copeland Borough Council
– Leadership:	Leader & Cabinet
– Executive:	Labour
– MPs:	Jamie Reed
Area
– Total	282.5 sq mi (731.7 km2)
Area rank	50th
Population (2010 est.)
– Total	69,500
– Rank	Ranked 301st
– Density	246/sq mi (95/km2)
Time zone	Greenwich Mean Time (UTC+0)
– Summer (DST)	British Summer Time (UTC+1)
Postcode
ISO 3166-2
ONS code	16UE
OS grid reference
NUTS 3
Ethnicity	99.3% White
Website	copeland.gov.uk

Copeland is a local government district and borough in western Cumbria, England. Its council is based in Whitehaven. It was formed on 1 April 1974 by the merger of the borough of Whitehaven, Ennerdale Rural District and Millom Rural District.

The name is derived from an alternate name for the Cumberland ward of Allerdale above Derwent, which covered roughly the same area.

Different explanations exist for the name. According to a document issued at the time of the borough's grant of arms, the name Copeland is derived from kaupland or bought land, the area of the Forest having been bought from the estate of St Bees Priory.^[1]

Angus Winchester (1985) upholds that the name kaupland derives from the Irish-Norse invasion of the area in the tenth century (Wainwright 1975). According to this explanation, the area was purchased from the Kingdom of Strathclyde, possibly with loot from Ireland. Geoffrey Hodgson (2008) argues that this Viking invasion accounts for the high frequency of the Hodgson surname in the area.

Governance

See also: Copeland local elections

Elections to the borough council are held every four years, with currently 51 councillors being elected at each election. Since the first election in 1973 the council has been under Labour control, apart from between 1976 and 1979 when it was under no overall control. As of the 2011 election the council is composed of the following councillors:-^[2]

Party		Councillors
	Labour Party	34
	Conservative Party	15
	Independent	2

References

1. ^ Arms of Copeland Borough Council, document issued at time of grant of arms
2. ^ "England council elections". BBC News Online. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/special/election2011/council/html/16ue.stm. Retrieved 25 July 2011. 

• Hodgson, Geoffrey M. (2008) Hodgson Saga, second edition (Standon, Hertfordshire: Martlet Books).
• Wainwright, F. T. (1975) Scandinavian England: Collected Papers (Chichester: Phillimore).
• Winchester, Angus J. L. (1985) 'The Multiple Estate: A Framework for the Evolution of Settlement in Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian Cumbria', in Baldwin, John R. and Whyte, Ian D. (eds) (1985) The Scandinavians in Cumbria (Edinburgh: The Scottish Society for Northern Studies), pp. 89–101.