A bid is being mounted to cut the number of elections in Carlisle.

City councillor James Bainbridge will tonight urge colleagues to change the way they are elected - saving money in the process.

He is tabling a motion to a full meeting of the authority that pushes for the cycle of three out of every four years - electing a third of the authority each time - to be scrapped.

Instead, he believes there should be an all-out election of the council every four years.

And the Conservative suggests that should start from 2019.

Making the change would mean Carlisle City Council holding talks with residents before later voting on the change.

Mr Bainbridge, who represents Stanwix Rural, said: "For a number of years I and my Conservative colleagues have looked at other councils make savings by doing this and have wondered why not Carlisle.

“We want to start off this process by voting to formally put the idea out for discussion with Carlisle as a whole.

"We think residents and business would welcome having a council that could be elected for a four-year term, and not have repeated local elections which disrupt council business.

"The council could plan for a four term rather than just for 12 months at a time.

"It’s an idea that seems to have very little against it. To be frank, we should have done it years ago”.

Nationally, district councils can elect members by thirds, half or by all-out elections.

Over recent years, a number of councils have moved to all-out elections as a way to save money, time and increase election turnout.

In Cumbria, Carlisle City is the only authority which elects by thirds.

Mr Bainbridge says that in 2019, Carlisle City Council will have to hold ‘all out’ elections in any case because ward boundaries look set to be redrawn as a result of a study by the Local Government Boundary Review.

If agreed, the Conservative says this change would then mean that instead of having local elections in 2020 and 2022 the next city council elections after 2019 would be in 2023.

This, he argues, would save at least an estimated £43,000 by not having to undertake tasks such as hiring halls, posting out postal votes and hiring election staff to man polling stations and carry out the count.

The council meets in the Civic Centre this evening.