Mike Starkie has been re-elected to serve as Copeland's mayor for four more years.
The result was announced at about 2.40am today at Whitehaven Sports Centre by Copeland council’s returning officer, Pat Graham.
Mr Starkie received 10,008 votes, enough to see him comfortably re-elected ahead of Labour candidate Linda Jones-Bulman and Conservatives candidate Ged McGrath.
The first box arrived at Whitehaven Sports Centre from Monkwray Junior School at 10.10pm and verification began immediately, with 65 people sifting through the votes before they could be counted.
The final box was delivered shortly after 11pm, with verification going on until almost 1am.
There were 53,012 people eligible to vote in the election but a turnout of just 33.54 per cent saw 17,786 verified votes as people took to the polls.
All three candidates felt Brexit had had an impact on the election and could be responsible for the low turnout.
Copeland MP Trudy Harrison, who was supporting Mr McGrath, echoed that sentiment.
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