TONY Blair may not have decided when the nation will be going to the polls to elect the next government but Furness voters will definitely be asked to turn-out in March to choose their local representatives.
South Lakeland District Council has set March 10 as the date for a by-election in the wards of Crake Valley, around Greenodd, and in south Ulverston.
The by-elections have been prompted by the deaths of Noel Spendlove of Spark Bridge, who died in November, and Ulverston councillor and long-serving town crier Alf Jarvis, who died the following month.
Mr Spendlove's widow, Betty, has decided to stand for her late husband's seat for the Liberal Democrats and will be vying for votes against Conservative candidate Walter Phillipson and Labour's representative Susan Page.
In Ulverston, town councillor Brian Wilkinson is hoping to keep Mr Jarvis's seat for the Conservatives. He is up against Labour contender Bharath Rajan and Green Party candidate William Shaw.
Whatever the outcome, the by-elections cannot change South Lakeland District Council's position as a hung' authority with no single party having overall control.
Before the councillors' deaths, the district council make-up was 22 Lib Dems, 20 Conservative, eight Labour and two independents.
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