Wakefield.
Labour Party-controlled metropolitan_borough. £395m net revenue. 21 wards across 4 parliamentary constituencies.
31 May 2026
Labour Party chamber, Labour Party MPs.
Wakefield is a metropolitan_borough controlled by Labour Party (23 of 24 seats). Net revenue is £395m for 2025-26. It covers 21 wards spanning 4 parliamentary constituencies.
Who sits in the chamber.
Labour Party 96% · last contested 2 May 2024
Councillors — the people.
| Councillor | Ward | Elected | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Martin Roberts | Lab | Ackworth North Elmsall Upton | 2024 |
| Jackie Ferguson | Lab | Airedale Ferry Fryston | 2024 |
| Les Shaw | Lab | Airedale Ferry Fryston | 2023 |
| Josie Pritchard | Lab | Altofts Whitwood | 2024 |
| Richard Anthony Forster | Lab | Castleford Central Glasshoughton | 2024 |
| Faith Heptinstall | Lab | Crofton Ryhill Walton | 2024 |
| Maureen Tennant-King | Lab | Featherstone | 2024 |
| Laura Jones | Lab | Hemsworth | 2024 |
| Jakob Matthew Williamson | Lab | Hemsworth | 2023 |
| Darren Byford | Lab | Horbury South Ossett | 2024 |
| Adele Hayes | LD | Knottingley | 2024 |
| Daniel Wilton | Lab | Normanton | 2024 |
Where revenue comes from.
Revenue mix is close to the councils (metropolitan_borough) median: 49% council tax, 39% 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 | £1,802 |
| County / upper-tier | £0 |
| Police | £263 |
| Fire & rescue | £84 |
| GLA precept | £0 |
| Parish average | £36 |
| Total Band-D | £2,186 |
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 Wakefield split its revenue across services, compared with peer councils (metropolitan_borough)-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.
| Constituency | Wards | % of council | Current MP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Normanton and Hemsworth | 6 | 29% | Jon Trickett | Lab |
| Pontefract, Castleford and Knottingley | 6 | 29% | Yvette Cooper | Lab |
| Wakefield and Rothwell | 5 | 24% | Simon Lightwood | Ind |
| Ossett and Denby Dale | 4 | 19% | Jade Botterill | Lab |
Sources, methods & last update
DCLEAPIL v1.0 (historic)
Core Spending Power table · 2025-26
vs 35 other councils (metropolitan_borough)
Police, Fire, Parish on top
Not yet ingested for Wakefield
2023 boundaries
Pending ingest at LAD level