Dorset.
Liberal Democrats-controlled unitary. £451m net revenue. 48 wards across 5 parliamentary constituencies.
31 May 2026
Liberal Democrats chamber, 3-party MP geography.
Dorset is a unitary controlled by Liberal Democrats (37 of 76 seats). Net revenue is £451m for 2025-26. It covers 48 wards spanning 5 parliamentary constituencies. The MP geography crosses 3 parties — a heterogeneous setup.
Who sits in the chamber.
Liberal Democrats 49% · last contested 2 May 2024
Councillors — the people.
| Councillor | Ward | Elected | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jane Somper | Con | Beacon | 2024 |
| Craig Monks | Con | Beaminster | 2024 |
| Stephen Murcer | Con | Blackmore Vale | 2024 |
| Byron Robert Quayle | Con | Blandford | 2024 |
| Noc Lacey-Clarke | Con | Blandford | 2024 |
| Jill Haynes | Con | Chalk Valleys | 2024 |
| David Taylor | LD | Charminster St Marys | 2024 |
| Gill Taylor | LD | Chickerell | 2024 |
| Simon Arthur Dewi Clifford | LD | Chickerell | 2024 |
| Andrew Todd | LD | Colehill Wimborne Minster East | 2024 |
| Jindy Atwal | LD | Colehill Wimborne Minster East | 2024 |
| Duncan Sowry-House | LD | Corfe Mullen | 2024 |
Where revenue comes from.
This is a high-council-tax unitary authoritie: 72% 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 | £2,101 |
| County / upper-tier | £0 |
| Police | £308 |
| Fire & rescue | £92 |
| GLA precept | £0 |
| Parish average | £130 |
| Total Band-D | £2,630 |
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 Dorset 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| REDACTED - PERSONAL DATA | £31.85m | 14.4% | 11,784 |
| REDACTED – PERSONAL DATA | £28.22m | 12.8% | 5,133 |
| CARE DORSET HOLDING LIMITED | £7.23m | 3.3% | 6 |
| HANSON QUARRY PRODUCTS EUROPE LIMIT | £6.24m | 2.8% | 35 |
| DORSET HEALTHCARE NHS TRUST | £6.02m | 2.7% | 12 |
| CONNECT 2 DORSET | £4.54m | 2.1% | 4 |
| NEW EARTH SOLUTIONS (CANFORD) LTD | £2.68m | 1.2% | 3 |
| WEYMOUTH COLLEGE | £2.65m | 1.2% | 2 |
| W AND S WASTE MANAGEMENT LTD | £2.54m | 1.2% | 14 |
| MILLBROOK HEALTHCARE LTD | £2.52m | 1.1% | 10 |
By service area · top supplier
| Service | Top supplier | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Adult Social Care | REDACTED - PERSONAL DATA | £25.43m |
| Corporate And Central | HANSON QUARRY PRODUCTS EUROPE LIMIT | £6.18m |
| Childrens Services | REDACTED – PERSONAL DATA | £6.00m |
| Planning And Economic | NEW EARTH SOLUTIONS (CANFORD) LTD | £2.68m |
Dorset’s territory crosses 5 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Dorset | 16 | 33% | Edward Morello | LD |
| North Dorset | 13 | 27% | Simon Hoare | Con |
| South Dorset | 12 | 25% | Lloyd Hatton | Lab |
| Mid Dorset and North Poole | 6 | 13% | Vikki Slade | LD |
| Christchurch | 5 | 10% | Christopher Chope | Con |
This council holds 2 Ind, 2 Ind and 1 Ind MPs. That’s an unusually heterogeneous geography for a Liberal Democrats-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
32,014 payments · 3 Dec 2025 – 27 Feb 2026
2023 boundaries
Pending ingest at LAD level