Darlington.
Labour Party-controlled unitary. £130m net revenue. 20 wards across 2 parliamentary constituencies.
31 May 2026
Labour Party chamber, 2-party MP geography.
Darlington is a unitary controlled by Labour Party (24 of 50 seats). Net revenue is £130m for 2025-26. It covers 20 wards spanning 2 parliamentary constituencies. The MP geography crosses 2 parties — a heterogeneous setup.
Who sits in the chamber.
Labour Party 48% · last contested 4 May 2023
Councillors — the people.
| Councillor | Ward | Elected | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Andrew Graham Anderson | Lab | Bank Top Lascelles | 2023 |
| David Jeffrey Ray | Lab | Bank Top Lascelles | 2023 |
| Helen Crumbie | Lab | Bank Top Lascelles | 2023 |
| David Joseph Beckett | Lab | Brinkburn Faverdale | 2023 |
| Rebecca Elizabeth Baker | Lab | Brinkburn Faverdale | 2023 |
| Scott Durham | Con | Brinkburn Faverdale | 2023 |
| Jan Cossins | Lab | Cockerton | 2023 |
| Jim Garner | Lab | Cockerton | 2023 |
| Neil Johnson | Lab | Cockerton | 2023 |
| Bryony Hannah Holroyd | Grn | College | 2023 |
| Matthew Snedker | Grn | College | 2023 |
| Joe Dillon | Lab | Eastbourne | 2023 |
Where revenue comes from.
Revenue mix is close to the unitary authorities median: 54% council tax, 34% 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 | £1,959 |
| County / upper-tier | £0 |
| Police | £282 |
| Fire & rescue | £123 |
| GLA precept | £0 |
| Parish average | £7 |
| Total Band-D | £2,372 |
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 Darlington 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| STOCKTON ON TEES BOROUGH COUNCIL | £1.21m | 10.3% | 7 |
| DIMENSIONS PERSONALISED SUPPORT | £0.66m | 5.6% | 2 |
| EDF ENERGY CUSTOMERS LTD | £0.56m | 4.8% | 113 |
| KAJIMA DARLINGTON SCHOOLS LTD | £0.49m | 4.2% | 6 |
| STONEGRAVE AGGREGATES LTD | £0.41m | 3.4% | 3 |
| DIMENSIONS (UK) LTD | £0.33m | 2.8% | 3 |
| UNITED RESPONSE | £0.20m | 1.7% | 2 |
| CORONA ENERGY LTD | £0.18m | 1.5% | 53 |
| GROSVENOR PARK | £0.16m | 1.4% | 7 |
| ONE CALL CARE SOLUTIONS LTD | £0.16m | 1.3% | 1 |
By service area · top supplier
| Service | Top supplier | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Waste And Recycling | STOCKTON ON TEES BOROUGH COUNCIL | £1.21m |
| Childrens Services | DIMENSIONS PERSONALISED SUPPORT | £0.66m |
| Planning And Economic | EDF ENERGY CUSTOMERS LTD | £0.26m |
| Corporate And Central | MIDDLETON ST GEORGE PARISH COUNCIL | £0.09m |
Darlington’s territory crosses 2 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Darlington | 18 | 90% | Lola McEvoy | Lab |
| Stockton West | 2 | 10% | Matt Vickers | Con |
This council holds 1 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
1,105 payments · 1 Apr 2026 – 1 May 2026
2023 boundaries
Pending ingest at LAD level