Cheshire West and Chester.
Labour Party-controlled unitary. £390m net revenue. 45 wards across 6 parliamentary constituencies.
31 May 2026
Labour Party chamber, 3-party MP geography.
Cheshire West and Chester is a unitary controlled by Labour Party (40 of 71 seats). Net revenue is £390m for 2025-26. It covers 45 wards spanning 6 parliamentary constituencies. The MP geography crosses 3 parties — a heterogeneous setup.
Who sits in the chamber.
Labour Party 56% · last contested 4 May 2023
Councillors — the people.
| Councillor | Ward | Elected | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alan Smith | Lab | Blacon | 2023 |
| Carol Gahan | Lab | Blacon | 2023 |
| Sheila Little | Lab | Blacon | 2023 |
| Karen Louise Shore | Lab | Central Grange | 2023 |
| Robert Bisset | Lab | Central Grange | 2023 |
| Ben Walker | Lab | Chester City The Garden Quarter | 2023 |
| Katrina Kerr | Lab | Chester City The Garden Quarter | 2023 |
| Paul Chamberlain | Lab | Chester City The Garden Quarter | 2023 |
| Mark Williams | Con | Christleton Huntington | 2023 |
| Stuart Parker | Con | Christleton Huntington | 2023 |
| Dan Marr | Con | Davenham Moulton Kingsmead | 2023 |
| Gaynor Jean Sinar | Con | Davenham Moulton Kingsmead | 2023 |
Where revenue comes from.
This is a high-council-tax unitary authoritie: 66% of revenue from council tax, above the cohort median (59%).
Source · MHCLG — Final LGFS 2025-26 Core Spending Power table · derived (CT exact; grants/rates split from SFA baseline)
Band-D bill.
| Council slice | £1,978 |
| County / upper-tier | £0 |
| Police | £277 |
| Fire & rescue | £95 |
| GLA precept | £0 |
| Parish average | £42 |
| Total Band-D | £2,392 |
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 Cheshire West and Chester 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| FORHOUSING | £8.91m | 4.7% | 74 |
| COLAS LIMITED (INTERFACE ONLY) | £8.52m | 4.5% | 924 |
| CHESHIRE WEST RECYCLING | £5.63m | 3.0% | 34 |
| CW&C LEISURE CIC – BRIO (MANAGEMENT FEE ONLY) | £5.36m | 2.8% | 4 |
| KIRKLEES COUNCIL | £5.21m | 2.7% | 3 |
| KIER CONSTRUCTION NORTH AND SCOTLAND | £5.20m | 2.7% | 8 |
| EQUANS SERVICES LIMITED | £4.21m | 2.2% | 55 |
| WEST MERCIA ENERGY | £4.12m | 2.2% | 8 |
| FCC RECYCLING (UK) LTD | £3.93m | 2.1% | 5 |
| READ CONSTRUCTION HOLDINGS LTD | £3.21m | 1.7% | 4 |
By service area · top supplier
| Service | Top supplier | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Waste And Recycling | COLAS LIMITED (INTERFACE ONLY) | £8.52m |
| Corporate And Central | WEST MERCIA ENERGY | £4.12m |
| Adult Social Care | C WYNNE & SONS LTD | £2.42m |
| Public Health | VIA COMMUNITY LTD | £2.32m |
Cheshire West and Chester’s territory crosses 6 Westminster constituencies, with 3 MP parties represented. The middle column shows how much of the council each seat carries.
| Constituency | Wards | % of council | Current MP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mid Cheshire | 11 | 24% | Andrew Cooper | Lab |
| Chester North and Neston | 10 | 22% | Samantha Dixon | Lab |
| Chester South and Eddisbury | 9 | 20% | Aphra Brandreth | Con |
| Ellesmere Port and Bromborough | 9 | 20% | Justin Madders | Lab |
| Runcorn and Helsby | 4 | 9% | Sarah Pochin | Ref |
| Tatton | 2 | 4% | Esther McVey | Con |
This council holds 3 Ind, 2 Ind and 1 Ind MPs. That’s an unusually heterogeneous geography for a Labour 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
11,774 payments · 3 Dec 2025 – 31 Mar 2026
2023 boundaries
Pending ingest at LAD level