Photo: peter robinson · CC BY-SA 2.0Reform UK holds a majority on Durham County Council
Peterlee is run by Durham County Council, with Peterlee parish council for local matters. Reform UK has a majority on Durham County Council. Its MP is Grahame Morris (Labour), member for Easington.
£2,948
Band D, a year, the middle band every council sets its tax from.
Where it goes →How Peterlee’s politics has changed since 2021
A majority on Durham County Council
Reform UK holds a majority on Durham County Council: 63 of its 98 seats as elected. The Liberal Democrats hold 15, independents 12, Labour 5, the Greens 2 and the Conservatives 1. Who’s in charge ↓
Council tax
A Band D bill in Peterlee is £2,948 for 2026–27; Durham County Council keeps 70% of it. The council area’s Band D has risen 51% 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.
Who holds the seats
Seats by party as elected. A party needs 50 of County Durham’s 98 seats to run the council alone.
- Reform UK63
- Liberal Democrat15
- Independent12
- Labour5
- Green2
- Conservative1
Latest election: May 2025.
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 Peterlee
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 Peterlee’s residents · Band D precept £448
Every main council service: schools, social care, roads, bins, planning, housing and libraries.
Website ↗Transport, skills and regeneration across several council areas. It is led by an elected mayor.
Mayor: Kim McGuinness (Labour and Co-operative), elected May 2024
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 Peterlee, from the most recent elections.
- 1Town or parishParish tierPeterlee parish council
- 2Durham County Council3 wards · 5 councillorsSteven FranklinDawn SaundersScott WoodhouseDawn BellinghamJohn Cottier
- 3Mayor of North East Combined AuthorityNorth East Combined Authority · elected May 2024Kim McGuinness
- 4Police and crime commissionerDurham Constabulary · elected May 2024Joy Allen
- 5House of CommonsEasington
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.
5 councillors for 3 wards
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.
- Steven FranklinReform UK · May 2025
- Dawn SaundersReform UK · May 2025
- Scott WoodhouseReform UK · May 2025
- Dawn BellinghamReform UK · May 2025
- John CottierReform UK · May 2025
Show as a table
| Ward | Seats | Elected | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| Peterleeall in Peterlee · 11,699 residents2 seats · May 2025 | 2 | Steven FranklinDawn Saunders | May 2025 |
| Castle Eden & Passfieldmostly in Peterlee · 4,271 residents1 seat · May 2025 | 1 | Scott Woodhouse | May 2025 |
| Horden & Dene House34% in Peterlee · 3,780 residents2 seats · May 2025 | 2 | Dawn BellinghamJohn Cottier | May 2025 |
Councillors can resign, change party or sit as independents between elections; a by-election winner replaces someone not named here. Durham County 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).
County Durham council election, May 2025
Results in the wards that make up Peterlee, as declared. Percentages are of votes cast for candidates in each ward; where a ward elects several councillors, each voter has that many votes.
3 wards voted. Every seat in the town’s wards was up.
No election is scheduled yet for Peterlee’s wards in Democracy Club’s list. Councils publish a notice of election about five weeks before polling day.
Who can I vote for? ↗3,745 votes for candidates · 2 seats, so 2 votes each
1,530 votes for candidates
4,361 votes for candidates · 2 seats, so 2 votes each
Candidates and results: Democracy Club (CC BY 4.0), from councils’ declared results; polling dates from Democracy Club’s EveryElection.
Peterlee is in Easington constituency
The constituency’s MP and the 4 July 2024 general election, the whole constituency’s result (it reaches beyond Peterlee).
34,324 votes for candidates · majority 6,542
Labour, MP since 6 May 2010.
turnout in July 2024: 34,324 votes from 69,395 registered voters. England: 60%.
Majority 6,542 of 34,324 votes (19.1%): wider than in 65% of England’s 543 constituencies.
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.
Peterlee’s Band D council tax is £2,948 a year
Where a Band D bill goes, what it has cost over the years, and what the councils plan to spend per resident.
Durham County Council keeps £2,071.11 of a Band D bill (70%); the rest goes to the Peterlee parish council, the Durham police and crime commissioner and the Durham Fire and Rescue Authority.
Band D since 2009
County Durham’s Band D bill has risen 51% in ten years, from £1,735.37 in 2016–17, against England’s average (56%). It was £1,567.12 in 2009–10.
Your bill by band
A Band D home in Peterlee, 2026–27, before discounts. The Valuation Office Agency’s band search gives any home’s band.
County Durham’s councils
Average Band D in each council area, 2026–27, parish precepts included. Bars start at £2,300.
Council budgets per resident, 2026–27
Show as a table, with County Durham
| County Durham | Peterlee’s councils | County Durham | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adult social care | £415 | £443 | £487 |
| Children’s social care | £371 | £394 | £290 |
| Roads and transport | £37 | £48 | £41 |
| Housing (not council homes’ rents) | £34 | £36 | £61 |
| Bins, street cleaning, environment | £130 | £125 | £119 |
| Libraries, leisure, culture | £73 | £65 | £44 |
| Planning and development | £28 | £23 | £26 |
| Public health | £125 | £116 | £78 |
| Running the council | £53 | £57 | £59 |
| Other | £60 | £33 | £19 |
| Total, schools apart | £1,325 | £1,340 | £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. County Durham 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 Peterlee 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.
durham.gov.uk ↗Anyone can comment while an application is open for consultation.
durham.gov.uk ↗The rules, nomination papers and guidance for council candidates.
Electoral Commission ↗Questions about how Peterlee is run
Which council runs Peterlee?
Peterlee is run by Durham County Council.
Does Peterlee have a town council?
Yes: Peterlee has its own parish-tier council (Peterlee parish council; town councils are parish councils by another name), which adds £448 to a Band D bill in 2026–27.
Who is the MP for Peterlee?
Grahame Morris (Labour) is the MP for Easington, which covers Peterlee.
How many councillors does Peterlee have?
5 ward councillors represent Peterlee’s 3 wards.
When are the next elections in Peterlee?
No election is scheduled yet in Democracy Club’s list for Peterlee’s wards. The next UK general election must be held by August 2029.
How much is council tax in Peterlee?
Band D council tax in Peterlee is £2,948 for 2026–27. Your bill depends on your home’s band, from A (6/9 of Band D) to H (18/9).
Who controls Durham County Council?
Reform UK has a majority: 63 of 98 seats as elected. The council’s website lists who leads it now.
Who won the 2025 council election in Peterlee?
In Peterlee’s wards on 1 May 2025, Reform UK 5 of the 5 seats up. Reform UK had the largest share of votes, 54.2%.
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.