Bedford.
Conservative and Unionist Party-controlled unitary. £196m net revenue. 27 wards across 3 parliamentary constituencies.
31 May 2026
Conservative and Unionist Party chamber, 2-party MP geography.
Bedford is a unitary controlled by Conservative and Unionist Party (15 of 45 seats). Net revenue is £196m for 2025-26. It covers 27 wards spanning 3 parliamentary constituencies. The MP geography crosses 2 parties — a heterogeneous setup.
Who sits in the chamber.
Conservative and Unionist Party 33% · last contested 4 May 2023
Councillors — the people.
| Councillor | Ward | Elected | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jon Gambold | Con | Biddenham | 2023 |
| Charles Royden | LD | Brickhill | 2023 |
| Wendy Rider | LD | Brickhill | 2023 |
| Dylan Mark Simmons | Con | Bromham | 2023 |
| Robert Rigby | Con | Bromham | 2023 |
| Lucy Bywater | Grn | Castle Newnham | 2023 |
| Paul Richard Edmonds | Grn | Castle Newnham | 2023 |
| Abu Sultan | Lab | Cauldwell | 2023 |
| Fouzia Zamir Atiq | Lab | Cauldwell | 2023 |
| Harish Thapar | Lab | Cauldwell | 2023 |
| Jane Walker | Con | Clapham Oakley | 2023 |
| Jon Abbott | LD | Clapham Oakley | 2023 |
Where revenue comes from.
Revenue mix is close to the unitary authorities median: 63% council tax, 26% central grants.
Source · MHCLG — Final LGFS 2025-26 Core Spending Power table · derived (CT exact; grants/rates split from SFA baseline)
Band-D bill.
| Council slice | £1,916 |
| County / upper-tier | £0 |
| Police | £279 |
| Fire & rescue | £118 |
| GLA precept | £0 |
| Parish average | £38 |
| Total Band-D | £2,351 |
Parish precepts apply on top, vary by parish
Use the income slider on My place to see income tax, NI, VAT and council tax against your earnings.
How does Bedford split its revenue across services, compared with peer unitary authoritie-class councils? Each row is one of the ten standard service buckets. The vertical line at the centre is the cohort median share; the coloured square is where this council sits. Squares to the right of centre mean a bigger share of revenue than the median peer; to the left, a smaller share.
The subtitle on each row (“X% of net spend”) is what share of this council’s revenue goes to that service. The rank (“15 of 61”) is where this council sits within the cohort, sorted by that share descending. The delta (“+26% vs median”) is a relative reading: the council allocates 26% more of its revenue to that service than the median peer would. A small absolute difference can still be a big relative one.
Higher share doesn’t mean waste — it can reflect demographic need (more older residents), rurality, or a policy choice (e.g. keeping a service in-house). Lower share doesn’t mean efficiency — some councils move costs to fees, ringfenced accounts, or grants. £-per-head would be sharper than share-of-revenue; LAD population is pending ingest. Comparisons are within the same council type only.
Every invoice over £500, published under the Local Government Transparency Code. Best-effort, not statutory — counts and totals net negatives (refunds/reversals).
Top by total — last 180 days
| Supplier | Paid | Share | Pmts |
|---|---|---|---|
| CENTRAL BEDFORDSHIRE COUNCIL | £4.31m | 2.9% | 77 |
| COMENSURA LTD | £3.93m | 2.6% | 23 |
| HEIDELBERG MATERIALS CONTRACTING | £3.84m | 2.5% | 28 |
| BIDDENHAM UPPER SCHOOL | £3.61m | 2.4% | 10 |
| STAGECOACH SERVICES LTD | £2.40m | 1.6% | 34 |
| CREATIVE SUPPORT | £2.30m | 1.5% | 728 |
| KING´S OAK PRIMARY SCHOOL | £2.05m | 1.4% | 28 |
| MENTAUR LTD | £1.80m | 1.2% | 410 |
| VEOLIA ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES (UK) LIMITED | £1.80m | 1.2% | 36 |
| DJT SURFACING LTD | £1.77m | 1.2% | 92 |
By service area · top supplier
Service-classified supplier data not yet ingested for this council.
Bedford’s territory crosses 3 Westminster constituencies, with 2 MP parties represented. The middle column shows how much of the council each seat carries.
| Constituency | Wards | % of council | Current MP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Bedfordshire | 15 | 56% | Richard Fuller | Con |
| Bedford | 11 | 41% | Mohammad Yasin | Lab |
| Mid Bedfordshire | 2 | 7% | Blake Stephenson | Con |
This council holds 2 Ind and 1 Ind MPs. That’s an unusually heterogeneous geography for a Conservative and Unionist Party-controlled unitary — most weeks one MP is asking the council for something and another is praising it.
Sources, methods & last update
DCLEAPIL v1.0 (historic)
Core Spending Power table · 2025-26
vs 62 other unitary authorities
Police, Fire, Parish on top
25,840 payments · 3 Dec 2025 – 30 Apr 2026
2023 boundaries
Pending ingest at LAD level