Photo: Andrew Smith · CC BY-SA 2.0No party holds a majority on Wokingham Borough Council
Sonning is run by Wokingham Borough Council, with Sonning parish council for local matters. No party holds a majority on Wokingham Borough Council. Its MP is Yuan Yang (Labour), member for Earley and Woodley.
£2,472
Band D, a year, the middle band every council sets its tax from.
Where it goes →How Sonning’s politics has changed since 2021
No majority on Wokingham Borough Council
The Liberal Democrats, the largest group, hold 28 of its 60 seats as elected, 3 short of the 31 needed. The Conservatives hold 21, Labour 8. Who’s in charge ↓
The 2026 vote
Across Sonning’s wards, the Conservatives took 40.6%, the Liberal Democrats took 40.1% and Reform UK took 12.2% of votes in May 2026. In 2024, the Conservatives had 46.5%. How Sonning has voted ↓
Council tax
A Band D bill in Sonning is £2,472 for 2026–27; Wokingham Borough Council keeps 82% of it. The council area’s Band D has risen 58% in ten years, against England’s 56%. Council money ↓
Written from the data on this page: Democracy Club results since May 2021, the UK Parliament Members API and MHCLG council tax.
No party has a majority
Seats by party as elected. A party needs 31 of Wokingham’s 60 seats to run the council alone.
- Liberal Democrat28
- Conservative21
- Labour8
Latest election: May 2026.
Seats are counted from election results: each ward’s most recent winners until its seats are filled. Councillors who have since changed party or resigned aren’t reflected, and which parties lead the council, and who is leader, comes from the council itself.
Results: Democracy Club (CC BY 4.0), elections since May 2021; seats per ward from its EveryElection.
The councils that run Sonning
One council runs every main service here.
Local matters: allotments, play areas, halls, footpaths and benches; it is consulted on planning and adds a precept to the council tax bill. A town council is a parish council by another name.
100% of Sonning’s residents · Band D precept £55
Every main council service: schools, social care, roads, bins, planning, housing and libraries.
Website ↗Who to ask
From GOV.UK’s “Understand how your council works”: here one council runs every main service.
Councils from ONS lookups (wards and councils May 2026, parishes 2025), names and websites from GOV.UK’s local council finder; parish councils from MHCLG’s 2026–27 list of precepting parishes.
From the parish to Westminster
Every elected tier that speaks for Sonning, from the most recent elections.
- 1Town or parishParish tierSonning parish council
- 2Wokingham Borough Council1 ward · 3 councillorsLeon CookSam AkhtarWayne SmithKatrin Harding
- 3Police and crime commissionerThames Valley Police · elected May 2024Matthew Barber
- 4House of CommonsEarley and Woodley
Party colours are neutral on purpose: they tell parties apart and aren’t the parties’ own. Tap an MP’s name for their contact page on parliament.uk.
3 councillors for 1 ward
Wards with at least 2% of the town’s residents, or half their own inside it. Each shows who won its most recent elections, newest first, until its seats are filled.
- Leon CookConservative · May 2026
- Sam AkhtarConservative · May 2024
- Wayne SmithConservative · May 2024
- Katrin HardingLiberal Democrat · May 2024
Show as a table
| Ward | Seats | Elected | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thames18% in Sonning · 1,615 residents3 seats · May 2026, May 2024 | 3 | Leon CookSam AkhtarWayne SmithKatrin Harding | May 2026, May 2024 |
Councillors can resign, change party or sit as independents between elections; a by-election winner replaces someone not named here. Wokingham Borough Council’s website lists who sits now.
Results from Democracy Club’s candidates database (CC BY 4.0; elections since May 2021) and ward seats from its EveryElection, matched to ONS wards (May 2026) and county divisions (May 2025).
The Conservatives have led every council vote since 2024
Share of all votes cast for candidates in Sonning’s wards at each scheduled council election since 2021. A gap is a year with no election here.
Seats won at each election
Show as a table
| Party | 2024 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Green | 0% | 5.3% |
| Labour | 12.6% | 1.8% |
| Liberal Democrat | 40.9% | 40.1% |
| Conservative | 46.5% | 40.6% |
| Reform UK | 0% | 12.2% |
In 2026, the Conservatives won 1 of the 1 seats up in Sonning’s wards.
Results: Democracy Club (CC BY 4.0). Where a ward elects several councillors at once, each voter has that many votes; all of them count here.
Wokingham council election, May 2026
Results in the wards that make up Sonning, as declared. Percentages are of votes cast for candidates in each ward; where a ward elects several councillors, each voter has that many votes.
1 ward voted. Wokingham elects a third of its councillors at a time, so a third of the seats were up.
No election is scheduled yet for Sonning’s wards in Democracy Club’s list. Councils publish a notice of election about five weeks before polling day.
Who can I vote for? ↗3,820 votes for candidates
Candidates and results: Democracy Club (CC BY 4.0), from councils’ declared results; polling dates from Democracy Club’s EveryElection.
Sonning is in Earley and Woodley constituency
The constituency’s MP and the 4 July 2024 general election, the whole constituency’s result (it reaches beyond Sonning).
45,914 votes for candidates · majority 848
Labour, MP since 4 July 2024.
turnout in July 2024: 45,914 votes from 73,548 registered voters. England: 60%.
Majority 848 of 45,914 votes (1.8%): the 36th-narrowest of 543 in England.
MPs and results: UK Parliament Members API (Open Parliament Licence v3.0); constituencies from ONS (2024 boundaries). Percentages are of valid votes; turnout is votes cast over the electorate.
Sonning’s Band D council tax is £2,472 a year
Where a Band D bill goes, what it has cost over the years, and what the councils plan to spend per resident.
Wokingham Borough Council keeps £2,027.40 of a Band D bill (82%); the rest goes to the Sonning parish council, the Thames Valley police and crime commissioner and the Berkshire Fire and Rescue Authority.
Band D since 1993
Wokingham’s Band D bill has risen 58% in ten years, from £1,580.11 in 2016–17, against England’s average (56%). It was £550.13 in 1993–94.
Your bill by band
A Band D home in Sonning, 2026–27, before discounts. The Valuation Office Agency’s band search gives any home’s band.
Berkshire’s councils
Average Band D in each council area, 2026–27, parish precepts included. Bars start at £1,800.
Council budgets per resident, 2026–27
Show as a table, with Berkshire
| Wokingham | Sonning’s councils | Berkshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adult social care | £428 | £465 | £487 |
| Children’s social care | £228 | £286 | £290 |
| Roads and transport | £83 | £37 | £41 |
| Housing (not council homes’ rents) | £18 | £46 | £61 |
| Bins, street cleaning, environment | £100 | £116 | £119 |
| Libraries, leisure, culture | £-3 | £20 | £44 |
| Planning and development | £24 | £17 | £26 |
| Public health | £36 | £56 | £78 |
| Running the council | £91 | £55 | £59 |
| Other | £0 | £2 | £19 |
| Total, schools apart | £1,005 | £1,101 | £1,234 |
Net budgeted service spending, MHCLG Revenue Account budget 2026–27, per resident (ONS mid-2025 estimates). Schools are left out: academies are paid for directly by government, so council school budgets depend on how many schools have converted. Berkshire and England: all their councils together. Police, fire and transport authorities aren’t included.
Band D: MHCLG Band D council tax 2026–27 (each authority’s own figure, excluding parish precepts) and Council Tax statistics for town and parish councils 2026–27; since 1993–94, MHCLG’s area averages including parishes.
Having a say in how Sonning is run
It takes about five minutes online; the deadline is 12 working days before a poll.
gov.uk ↗Type a postcode to write to each of its councillors and its MP.
WriteToThem ↗GOV.UK sends the report to the council that looks after the road.
gov.uk ↗Council and committee meetings are open to the public, with agendas and minutes online.
wokingham.gov.uk ↗Anyone can comment while an application is open for consultation.
wokingham.gov.uk ↗The rules, nomination papers and guidance for council candidates.
Electoral Commission ↗Questions about how Sonning is run
Which council runs Sonning?
Sonning is run by Wokingham Borough Council.
Does Sonning have a town council?
Yes: Sonning has its own parish-tier council (Sonning parish council; town councils are parish councils by another name), which adds £55 to a Band D bill in 2026–27.
Who is the MP for Sonning?
Yuan Yang (Labour) is the MP for Earley and Woodley, which covers Sonning.
How many councillors does Sonning have?
3 ward councillors represent Sonning’s 1 ward.
When are the next elections in Sonning?
No election is scheduled yet in Democracy Club’s list for Sonning’s wards. The next UK general election must be held by August 2029.
How much is council tax in Sonning?
Band D council tax in Sonning is £2,472 for 2026–27. Your bill depends on your home’s band, from A (6/9 of Band D) to H (18/9).
Who controls Wokingham Borough Council?
No party has a majority. As elected, Liberal Democrat 28 · Conservative 21 · Labour 8 of 60 seats; a majority needs 31. The council’s website lists who leads it now.
Who won the 2026 council election in Sonning?
In Sonning’s wards on 7 May 2026, Conservative 1 of the 1 seats up. The Conservatives had the largest share of votes, 40.6%.
Sources: ONS ward, county division, parish, constituency lookups (Census 2021 output areas; Open Government Licence v3.0) · GOV.UK local council finder · Democracy Club candidates (CC BY 4.0) and EveryElection · UK Parliament Members API (Open Parliament Licence v3.0) · MHCLG Band D council tax, parish precepts and Revenue Account budgets 2026–27 (OGL v3.0) · ONS mid-2025 population estimates. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.