LAKELAND Liberal Democrats say there is ‘no sign’ the party’s national woes exist locally ahead of next week’s council elections.

Opinion polls have made for grim reading for the party in recent weeks, with surveys suggesting greater support for the UK Independence Party (UKIP).

And one predicted ‘big-guns’ including leader Nick Clegg would be defeated at the next general election as Coalition critics vented their anger.

But Westmorland and Lonsdale MP and Liberal Democrat President Tim Farron said support remained strong in South Lakeland.

“The response on the doorstep is very positive,” said Mr Farron. “I think the work we have done here is something we appear to be getting credit for.”

A third of South Lakeland District Council’s 51 seats will be contested on May 3, including the by-election for the vacant Kendal Fell ward after the death of leader Brendan Jameson in March.

But even if the Liberal Democrats lose seats, they are expected to retain control of the council, as nine of the 18 wards being fought are already Conservative.

Six of the battlegrounds are held by the Liberal Democrats. Labour occupies one.

Ulverston North is a second vacant seat, following the death of former Tory councillor Colin Hodgson last August.

Coun James Airey, SLDC’s Conservatives’ leader, said the elections would be a ‘big test’ for the party as most of the seats being contested were Tory-held.

“They’re very critical elections for us,” he said. “I hope people look at our local record, rather than what’s going on nationally as we have some hard-working councillors up for re-election.”

Coun Airey said he hoped the party would make some gains, potentially in Hawkshead and Milnthorpe, but said every seat would be ‘toughly fought’.

“Our candidates are getting a good response,” he said. “Our vote seems to be holding up but I think it’s going to be a really interesting election and definitely one to watch.”

The Liberal Democrats have controlled SLDC since 2006 and hold 31 of 51 seats.

Seventeen are held by the Conservatives and Labour has one.

All 18 seats for election will be fought by the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats while Labour is fielding candidates in nine.

A spokesman for the local Labour Party said: “Even though these are local elections, we are finding people talking about national issues on the doorstep.

“A lot of people feel very let down by the Liberal Democrats since they went into the Coalition with the Conservatives and are coming back to Labour.”

The Green party is making a charge in South Lakland by contesting 13 wards, raising the possibility of SLDC’s first Green councillor.

Judy Filmore, Ulverston Green Party secretary, said: “People sometimes think the Greens are only concerned with the environment but we stand for a lot more besides – quality local jobs, local green energy and a revitalised local market with lots of local produce.”

Three councillors are stepping down at the election, Lib Dems Colin Davies (Hawkshead) and Alan Baverstock (Milnthorpe) and Conservative Brian Wilkinson (Ulverston South).

There will also be a by-election for the Cumbria County Council and Kendal Town Council seats which was also held by the late Mr Jameson; Kendal Strickland and Fell, and Kirkland respectively.

Some town and parish council wards are also up for election.

Candidates in South Lakeland ward by ward:

Arnside and Beetham (Held by Lib Dems) – Pru Jupe (Lib Dems), Mike Nicholson (Con)

Burton and Holme (Con) – Roger Bingham (Con), Vic Brown (LD)

Coniston and Crake Valley (Con) – Michael Carter (LD), Anne Hall (Con)

Crooklands (Lib Dem) – Jess Alston (Con), Sheila Eccles (LD), Ko Keons (Green)

Hawskhead (Lib Dem) – David Fletcher (LD), Sarah Jane Ibbetson (Con), Paul Milling (Green)

Levens (Lib Dem) – Leigh Philip Martindale (Green), Mary Orr (LD), Brian Rendell (Con)

Lyth Valley (Con) – Danny Gallagher (LD), John Milburn Holmes (Con), Marilyn Molloy (Labour)

Milnthorpe (Lib Dem) – David Ryder (LD), Steil Redman Clark (Con), Malcolm Frank Airey (Green)

Sedbergh (Conservative) – Mandy Barnett (Green), Nick Cotton (LD), Martin Holborn (Lab), John Kevin Lancaster (Con)

Staveley in Cartmel (Con) – Sue Sanderson (LD), Ted Walsh (Con)

Staveley-in-Westmorland (Lib Dem) – Stan Collins (LD), Isabel Sandra Lilley (Con), Glennon Rachael Milling (Green)

Ulverston Central (Con) – Norman Bishop-Rowe (Con), Andrew Hudson (LD) Alison Elaine Morris (Green), Sundara Bharath Rajan (Lab)

Ulverston East (Lab) – Judith Anne Filmore (Green), Peter Hornby (Con), Ian Jackson (UKIP), Maureen Frances Nicholson (LD), John Mark Wilson (Lab and Co-operative)

Ulverston North (Con) – Anne Downe (LD), Helen Irving (Con), Chris Loynes (Green), Colin Pickthall (Lab and Co-op)

Ulverston South (Con) – David Khan (LD), Judith Ann Pickthall (Lab and Co-op), Kate Rawles (Green), Jane Amanda Rigg (Con)

Ulverston Town (Con) – John Victor Clough (Lab), Simon James Filmore (Green), James Mellor (LD), Andrew James Samson (Con)

Ulverston West (Con) – Loraine Birchall (LD), Ian Charles Hunt (Lab), Janette Ethel Jenkinson (Con), Robert O’Hara (Green)

Kendal Fell (Lib Dem) – Giles Archibald (LD), Adam Patrick Peter Birchall (Con), Paul Theodore Metsers (Green), James Hamilton Malcolm Nightingale (UKIP), Katherine Lois Sparling (Lab)