Somerset.
Liberal Democrats-controlled unitary. £613m net revenue. 55 wards across 7 parliamentary constituencies.
31 May 2026
Liberal Democrats chamber, 2-party MP geography.
Somerset is a unitary controlled by Liberal Democrats (60 of 109 seats). Net revenue is £613m for 2025-26. It covers 55 wards spanning 7 parliamentary constituencies. The MP geography crosses 2 parties — a heterogeneous setup.
Who sits in the chamber.
Liberal Democrats 55% · last contested 5 May 2022
Councillors — the people.
| Councillor | Ward | Elected | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Caroline Ellis | LD | Bishops Hull Taunton West | 2022 |
| John Hunt | Ind | Bishops Hull Taunton West | 2022 |
| Ross Longhurst Henley | LD | Blackdown Neroche | 2022 |
| Sarah Wakefield | LD | Blackdown Neroche | 2022 |
| Nicola Clark | LD | Blackmoor Vale | 2022 |
| Sarah Joanne Dyke | LD | Blackmoor Vale | 2022 |
| Bob Filmer | Con | Brent | 2022 |
| Tony Grimes | Con | Brent | 2022 |
| Andy Dingwall | Con | Bridgwater East Bawdrip | 2022 |
| Diogo Rodrigues | Con | Bridgwater East Bawdrip | 2022 |
| Hilary Bruce | Lab | Bridgwater North Central | 2022 |
| Leigh Redman | Lab | Bridgwater North Central | 2022 |
Where revenue comes from.
Revenue mix is close to the unitary authorities median: 63% council tax, 29% 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 | £1,858 |
| County / upper-tier | £0 |
| Police | £293 |
| Fire & rescue | £105 |
| GLA precept | £0 |
| Parish average | £182 |
| Total Band-D | £2,439 |
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 Somerset 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.
Somerset’s territory crosses 7 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yeovil | 11 | 20% | Adam Dance | LD |
| Taunton and Wellington | 10 | 18% | Gideon Amos | LD |
| Wells and Mendip Hills | 9 | 16% | Tessa Munt | LD |
| Bridgwater | 8 | 15% | Ashley Fox | Con |
| Glastonbury and Somerton | 8 | 15% | Sarah Dyke | LD |
| Tiverton and Minehead | 5 | 9% | Rachel Gilmour | LD |
| Frome and East Somerset | 4 | 7% | Anna Sabine | LD |
This council holds 6 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
Not yet ingested for Somerset
2023 boundaries
Pending ingest at LAD level