Photo: Malcolm Neal · CC BY-SA 2.0Derbyshire Dales was decided by 350 votes in 2024
Ashbourne is run by Derbyshire Dales District Council and Derbyshire County Council, with Ashbourne parish council for local matters. No party holds a majority on Derbyshire Dales District Council. Reform UK has a majority on Derbyshire County Council. Its MP is John Whitby (Labour), member for Derbyshire Dales.
£2,467
Band D, a year, the middle band every council sets its tax from.
Where it goes →How Ashbourne’s politics has changed since 2021
No majority on Derbyshire Dales District Council
The Liberal Democrats, the largest group, hold 12 of its 34 seats as elected, 6 short of the 18 needed. The Conservatives hold 11, Labour 7, the Greens 3 and independents 1. Who’s in charge ↓
Derbyshire changed hands in 2025
Derbyshire County Council, which runs schools, social care and roads, went from a Conservative majority (43 of 64 seats in 2021) to a Reform UK majority at the May 2025 election: Reform UK won 41 of 64 seats. Derbyshire ↓
A close seat
John Whitby (Labour) won Derbyshire Dales by 350 votes in July 2024, 0.68% of votes cast: the 16th-narrowest result of 543 in England. Parliament ↓
Council tax
A Band D bill in Ashbourne is £2,469 for 2026–27; Derbyshire Dales District Council keeps 10% of it. The council area’s Band D has risen 48% 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 on Ashbourne’s councils
Seats by party as elected. A party needs 18 of Derbyshire Dales’s 34 or 33 of Derbyshire’s 64 seats to run the council alone.
- Liberal Democrat12
- Conservative11
- Labour7
- Green3
- Independent1
Latest election: May 2023.
- Reform UK41+41
- Conservative12−31
- Green3+2
- Labour3−13
- Liberal Democrat3−1
- Independent2+2
Change against the council before the 1 May 2025 election.
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.
Two tiers of council, and a parish tier
Ashbourne has two tiers of council: the county runs the big services, the district the local ones.
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.
97% of Ashbourne’s residents · Band D precept £102
The parish council for the part of Ashbourne inside Offcote and Underwood parish.
Who runs Ashbourne: same source as Who runs Ashbourne, above.
Bins and recycling, planning, housing, environmental health, leisure, and collecting council tax.
Website ↗Schools, social care, roads and transport, libraries and waste disposal.
Website ↗Transport, skills and regeneration across several council areas. It is led by an elected mayor.
Mayor: Claire Ward (Labour and Co-operative), elected May 2024
Who to ask
From GOV.UK’s “Understand how your council works”: in two-tier areas the district or borough runs local services and the county the big ones.
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 Ashbourne, from the most recent elections.
- 1Town or parish2 parish councilsAshbourne parish councilOffcote and Underwood parish council
- 2Derbyshire Dales District Council2 wards · 5 councillorsRobert James ArcherNick WiltonAnthony Edward BatesPeter David Lewis DobbsStuart Lees
- 3Derbyshire County Council1 division · 1 councillorNick Adams
- 4Mayor of East Midlands Combined County AuthorityEast Midlands Combined County Authority · elected May 2024Claire Ward
- 5Police and crime commissionerDerbyshire Constabulary · elected May 2024Nicolle Ndiweni
- 6House of CommonsDerbyshire Dales
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 2 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.
- Robert James ArcherLiberal Democrat · May 2023
- Nick WiltonLiberal Democrat · May 2023
- Anthony Edward BatesConservative · May 2023
- Peter David Lewis DobbsLiberal Democrat · May 2023
- Stuart LeesConservative · May 2023
Show as a table, with Derbyshire County Council’s 1 division (1 councillor)
| Ward | Seats | Elected | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ashbourne Southmostly in Ashbourne · 5,388 residents3 seats · May 2023 | 3 | Robert James ArcherNick WiltonAnthony Edward Bates | May 2023 |
| Ashbourne Northmostly in Ashbourne · 3,466 residents2 seats · May 2023 | 2 | Peter David Lewis DobbsStuart Lees | May 2023 |
Derbyshire County Council: county divisions
| Division | Seats | Elected | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dovedale & Ashbourne North EDmostly in Ashbourne · 8,854 residents1 seat · May 2025 | 1 | Nick Adams | May 2025 |
Councillors can resign, change party or sit as independents between elections; a by-election winner replaces someone not named here. Derbyshire Dales District 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).
Derbyshire Dales council election, May 2023
Results in the wards that make up Ashbourne, as declared. Percentages are of votes cast for candidates in each ward; where a ward elects several councillors, each voter has that many votes.
2 wards voted. Every seat in the town’s wards was up.
No election is scheduled yet for Ashbourne’s wards in Democracy Club’s list. Councils publish a notice of election about five weeks before polling day.
Who can I vote for? ↗5,606 votes for candidates · 3 seats, so 3 votes each
2,563 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.
Ashbourne is in Derbyshire Dales constituency
The constituency’s MP and the 4 July 2024 general election, the whole constituency’s result (it reaches beyond Ashbourne).
51,272 votes for candidates · majority 350
Labour, MP since 4 July 2024.
turnout in July 2024: 51,272 votes from 73,324 registered voters. England: 60%.
Majority 350 of 51,272 votes (0.68%): the 16th-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.
Ashbourne’s Band D council tax is £2,469 a year
Where a Band D bill goes, what it has cost over the years, and what the councils plan to spend per resident.
Derbyshire Dales District Council keeps £251.37 of a Band D bill (10%); the rest goes to the Ashbourne parish council, Derbyshire County Council, the Derbyshire police and crime commissioner and the Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Authority.
Across the whole town the average Band D is £2,467 (parishes differ; weighted by residents).
Band D since 1993
Derbyshire Dales’s Band D bill has risen 48% in ten years, from £1,655.68 in 2016–17, against England’s average (56%). It was £601.88 in 1993–94.
Your bill by band
A Band D home in Ashbourne, 2026–27, before discounts. The Valuation Office Agency’s band search gives any home’s band.
Derbyshire’s councils
Average Band D in each council area, 2026–27, parish precepts included. Bars start at £2,200.
Council budgets per resident, 2026–27
Show as a table, with Derbyshire
| Derbyshire Dales + Derbyshire | Ashbourne’s councils | Derbyshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adult social care | £477 | £450 | £487 |
| Children’s social care | £228 | £260 | £290 |
| Roads and transport | £6 | £30 | £41 |
| Housing (not council homes’ rents) | £28 | £24 | £61 |
| Bins, street cleaning, environment | £172 | £125 | £119 |
| Libraries, leisure, culture | £59 | £43 | £44 |
| Planning and development | £35 | £22 | £26 |
| Public health | £72 | £79 | £78 |
| Running the council | £66 | £60 | £59 |
| Other | £0 | £28 | £19 |
| Total, schools apart | £1,143 | £1,120 | £1,234 |
Net budgeted service spending, MHCLG Revenue Account budget 2026–27, per resident (ONS mid-2025 estimates). Both tiers added: Derbyshire Dales per its residents plus Derbyshire per the county’s. Schools are left out: academies are paid for directly by government, so council school budgets depend on how many schools have converted. Derbyshire 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 Ashbourne 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.
derbyshiredales.gov.uk ↗Anyone can comment while an application is open for consultation.
derbyshiredales.gov.uk ↗The rules, nomination papers and guidance for council candidates.
Electoral Commission ↗Questions about how Ashbourne is run
Which council runs Ashbourne?
Ashbourne is run by Derbyshire Dales District Council and Derbyshire County Council. The county council runs schools, social care and roads; the district runs bins, planning and housing.
Does Ashbourne have a town council?
Yes: Ashbourne has its own parish-tier council (Ashbourne parish council; town councils are parish councils by another name), which adds £102 to a Band D bill in 2026–27.
Who is the MP for Ashbourne?
John Whitby (Labour) is the MP for Derbyshire Dales, which covers Ashbourne.
How many councillors does Ashbourne have?
5 ward councillors represent Ashbourne’s 2 wards, and 1 county councillors its county divisions.
When are the next elections in Ashbourne?
No election is scheduled yet in Democracy Club’s list for Ashbourne’s wards. The next UK general election must be held by August 2029.
How much is council tax in Ashbourne?
Band D council tax in Ashbourne is £2,467 for 2026–27. Your bill depends on your home’s band, from A (6/9 of Band D) to H (18/9).
Who controls Derbyshire Dales District Council?
No party has a majority. As elected, Liberal Democrat 12 · Conservative 11 · Labour 7 · Green 3 · Independent 1 of 34 seats; a majority needs 18. The council’s website lists who leads it now.
Who controls Derbyshire County Council?
Reform UK has a majority: 41 of 64 seats as elected.
Who won the 2023 council election in Ashbourne?
In Ashbourne’s wards on 4 May 2023, Liberal Democrat 3 · Conservative 2 of the 5 seats up. The Liberal Democrats had the largest share of votes, 48.5%.
Is Derbyshire Dales a marginal seat?
John Whitby (Labour) won it by 350 votes in July 2024, 0.68% of votes cast: the 16th-narrowest result of 543 in England.
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.