Photo: Imagosuk at English Wikipedia · Public domainNo party holds a majority on Brentwood Borough Council
Ingatestone is run by Brentwood Borough Council and Essex County Council, with Ingatestone and Fryerning parish council for local matters. No party holds a majority on Brentwood Borough Council. The Conservatives have a majority on Essex County Council. Its MP is Alex Burghart (Conservative), member for Brentwood and Ongar.
£2,331
Band D, a year, the middle band every council sets its tax from.
Where it goes →How Ingatestone’s politics has changed since 2021
No majority on Brentwood Borough Council
The Liberal Democrats, the largest group, hold 16 of its 39 seats as elected, 4 short of the 20 needed (it held 17 before the May 2026 election). The Conservatives hold 13, Reform UK 8 and Labour 2. Who’s in charge ↓
Essex in 2021
Essex County Council, which runs schools, social care and roads, has a Conservative majority at the May 2021 election: the Conservatives won 52 of 75 seats. Essex ↓
The 2026 vote
Across Ingatestone’s wards, the Conservatives took 35.9%, Reform UK took 31.4% and the Liberal Democrats took 24.9% of votes in May 2026. In 2024, the Conservatives had 41.9%. How Ingatestone has voted ↓
Council tax
A Band D bill in Ingatestone is £2,322 for 2026–27; Brentwood Borough Council keeps 10% of it. The council area’s Band D has risen 47% 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 Ingatestone’s councils
Seats by party as elected. A party needs 20 of Brentwood’s 39 or 38 of Essex’s 75 seats to run the council alone.
- Liberal Democrat16−1
- Conservative13−5
- Reform UK8+7
- Labour2−1
Change against the council before the 7 May 2026 election.
- Conservative52
- Liberal Democrat8
- Labour5
- Independent4
- Canvey Island Independent Party2
- Residents for Uttlesford2
- Green1
- Rochford District Residents1
Latest election: May 2021.
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
Ingatestone 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.
80% of Ingatestone’s residents · Band D precept £89
The parish council for the part of Ingatestone inside Mountnessing parish.
Who runs Ingatestone: same source as Who runs Ingatestone, 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 ↗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 Ingatestone, from the most recent elections.
- 1Town or parish2 parish councilsIngatestone and Fryerning parish councilMountnessing parish council
- 2Brentwood Borough Council1 ward · 3 councillorsLesley Anne WaglandDarryl Michael SankeyHugh Maurice Gorton
- 3Essex County Council1 division · 1 councillorLesley Anne Wagland
- 4Police and crime commissionerEssex Police · elected May 2024Roger Charles Hirst
- 5House of CommonsBrentwood and Ongar
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.
- Lesley Anne WaglandConservative · May 2026
- Darryl Michael SankeyLiberal Democrat · May 2024
- Hugh Maurice GortonLiberal Democrat · May 2024
Show as a table, with Essex County Council’s 1 division (1 councillor)
| Ward | Seats | Elected | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ingatestone, Fryerning & Mountnessingmostly in Ingatestone · 5,411 residents3 seats · May 2026, May 2024 | 3 | Lesley Anne WaglandDarryl Michael SankeyHugh Maurice Gorton | May 2026, May 2024 |
Essex County Council: county divisions
| Division | Seats | Elected | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brentwood Rural ED22% in Ingatestone · 5,411 residents1 seat · May 2021 | 1 | Lesley Anne Wagland | May 2021 |
Councillors can resign, change party or sit as independents between elections; a by-election winner replaces someone not named here. Brentwood 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 Liberal Democrats led each vote to 2024; the Conservatives led in 2026
Share of all votes cast for candidates in Ingatestone’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% | 6.2% |
| Labour | 7.7% | 1.6% |
| Liberal Democrat | 50.4% | 24.9% |
| Conservative | 41.9% | 35.9% |
| Reform UK | 0% | 31.4% |
In 2026, the Conservatives won 1 of the 1 seats up in Ingatestone’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.
Brentwood council election, May 2026
Results in the wards that make up Ingatestone, 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. Brentwood elects a third of its councillors at a time, so a third of the seats were up.
No election is scheduled yet for Ingatestone’s wards in Democracy Club’s list. Councils publish a notice of election about five weeks before polling day.
Who can I vote for? ↗2,591 votes for candidates
Candidates and results: Democracy Club (CC BY 4.0), from councils’ declared results; polling dates from Democracy Club’s EveryElection.
Ingatestone is in Brentwood and Ongar constituency
The constituency’s MP and the 4 July 2024 general election, the whole constituency’s result (it reaches beyond Ingatestone).
48,332 votes for candidates · majority 5,980
Conservative, MP since 8 June 2017.
turnout in July 2024: 48,332 votes from 75,352 registered voters. England: 60%.
Majority 5,980 of 48,332 votes (12.4%): the 240th-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.
Ingatestone’s Band D council tax is £2,322 a year
Where a Band D bill goes, what it has cost over the years, and what the councils plan to spend per resident.
Brentwood Borough Council keeps £223.49 of a Band D bill (10%); the rest goes to the Ingatestone and Fryerning parish council, Essex County Council, the Essex Police and the Essex PCC-Fire.
Across the whole town the average Band D is £2,331 (parishes differ; weighted by residents).
Band D since 1993
Brentwood’s Band D bill has risen 47% in ten years, from £1,535.27 in 2016–17, against England’s average (56%). It was £501.75 in 1993–94.
Your bill by band
A Band D home in Ingatestone and Fryerning, 2026–27, before discounts. The Valuation Office Agency’s band search gives any home’s band.
Essex’s councils
Average Band D in each council area, 2026–27, parish precepts included; the 11 nearest of 14. Bars start at £2,100.
Council budgets per resident, 2026–27
Show as a table, with Essex
| Brentwood + Essex | Ingatestone’s councils | Essex | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adult social care | £487 | £473 | £487 |
| Children’s social care | £187 | £217 | £290 |
| Roads and transport | £63 | £51 | £41 |
| Housing (not council homes’ rents) | £37 | £45 | £61 |
| Bins, street cleaning, environment | £119 | £127 | £119 |
| Libraries, leisure, culture | £30 | £47 | £44 |
| Planning and development | £58 | £19 | £26 |
| Public health | £63 | £67 | £78 |
| Running the council | £69 | £69 | £59 |
| Other | £0 | £4 | £19 |
| Total, schools apart | £1,112 | £1,118 | £1,234 |
Net budgeted service spending, MHCLG Revenue Account budget 2026–27, per resident (ONS mid-2025 estimates). Both tiers added: Brentwood per its residents plus Essex 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. Essex 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 Ingatestone 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.
brentwood.gov.uk ↗Anyone can comment while an application is open for consultation.
brentwood.gov.uk ↗The rules, nomination papers and guidance for council candidates.
Electoral Commission ↗Questions about how Ingatestone is run
Which council runs Ingatestone?
Ingatestone is run by Brentwood Borough Council and Essex County Council. The county council runs schools, social care and roads; the district runs bins, planning and housing.
Does Ingatestone have a town council?
Yes: Ingatestone has its own parish-tier council (Ingatestone and Fryerning parish council; town councils are parish councils by another name), which adds £89 to a Band D bill in 2026–27.
Who is the MP for Ingatestone?
Alex Burghart (Conservative) is the MP for Brentwood and Ongar, which covers Ingatestone.
How many councillors does Ingatestone have?
3 ward councillors represent Ingatestone’s 1 ward, and 1 county councillors its county divisions.
When are the next elections in Ingatestone?
No election is scheduled yet in Democracy Club’s list for Ingatestone’s wards. The next UK general election must be held by August 2029.
How much is council tax in Ingatestone?
Band D council tax in Ingatestone is £2,331 for 2026–27. Your bill depends on your home’s band, from A (6/9 of Band D) to H (18/9).
Who controls Brentwood Borough Council?
No party has a majority. As elected, Liberal Democrat 16 · Conservative 13 · Reform UK 8 · Labour 2 of 39 seats; a majority needs 20. The council’s website lists who leads it now.
Who controls Essex County Council?
The Conservatives have a majority: 52 of 75 seats as elected.
Who won the 2026 council election in Ingatestone?
In Ingatestone’s wards on 7 May 2026, Conservative 1 of the 1 seats up. The Conservatives had the largest share of votes, 35.9%.
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.