Photo: Mr Ignavy · CC BY-SA 2.0No party holds a majority on Rushmoor Borough Council
Farnborough is run by Rushmoor Borough Council and Hampshire County Council. No party holds a majority on either Rushmoor Borough Council or Hampshire County Council. Its MP is Alex Baker (Labour), member for Aldershot.
£2,321
Band D, a year, the middle band every council sets its tax from.
Where it goes →How Farnborough’s politics has changed since 2021
No majority on Rushmoor Borough Council
No party holds a majority on Rushmoor Borough Council. Labour, the largest group, holds 19 of its 39 seats as elected, one short of the 20 needed. The Conservatives hold 11, Reform UK 6 and the Liberal Democrats 3. Who’s in charge ↓
Hampshire changed hands in 2026
Hampshire County Council, which runs schools, social care and roads, went from a Conservative majority (54 of 78 seats in 2021) to no overall control at the May 2026 election: the Conservatives won 27 of 78 seats. Hampshire ↓
The 2026 vote
Across Farnborough’s wards, Reform UK took 30.9%, the Conservatives took 26.2% and Labour took 20.3% of votes in May 2026. In 2024, Reform UK had 2.4%. How Farnborough has voted ↓
Council tax
A Band D bill in Farnborough is £2,320 for 2026–27; Rushmoor Borough Council keeps 11% of it. The council area’s Band D has risen 56% in ten years, in line with 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 on either council
Seats by party as elected. A party needs 20 of Rushmoor’s 39 or 40 of Hampshire’s 78 seats to run the council alone.
- Labour19
- Conservative11
- Reform UK6
- Liberal Democrat3
Latest election: May 2026.
- Conservative27−27
- Liberal Democrat26+8
- Reform UK20+20
- Community Campaign (Hart)1+1
- Green1no change
- Independent1no change
- Labour1−2
- Whitehill & Bordon Community Party1no change
Change against the council before the 7 May 2026 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, no parish tier
Farnborough has two tiers of council: the county runs the big services, the district the local ones.
Bins and recycling, planning, housing, environmental health, leisure, and collecting council tax.
99% of Farnborough’s residents
Website ↗Bins and recycling, planning, housing, environmental health, leisure, and collecting council tax.
Who runs Farnborough: same source as Who runs Farnborough, above.
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.
99% of Farnborough is unparished: there is no parish or town council, so the council runs local matters itself and no parish precept is added to the bill.
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 council to Westminster
Every elected tier that speaks for Farnborough, from the most recent elections.
- 1Council wards8 wards · 14 councillorsConservative 7 · Reform UK 4 · Labour 2 · Liberal Democrat 1 · all 14
- 2Hampshire County Council3 divisions · 3 councillorsRoz ChaddChris HardingIan Michael Brumwell Simpson
- 3Police and crime commissionerHampshire Constabulary · elected May 2024Donna Jones
- 4House of CommonsAldershot
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.
14 councillors for 8 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.
- Sally McGuinnessReform UK · May 2026
- Craig William CardLiberal Democrat · May 2026
- Mara MakunuraConservative · May 2026
- Paul Graham TaylorConservative · May 2024
- Calum James StewartConservative · May 2023
- Martin John TennantConservative · May 2026
- Dave BellReform UK · May 2026
- Rob MatthewsReform UK · May 2026
- Ian Michael Brumwell SimpsonReform UK · May 2026
- Steve HardenConservative · May 2024
- Ade AdeolaConservative · May 2026
- Rhian JonesLabour · May 2024
- Gareth Benjamin LyonConservative · May 2023
- Nicky SlaterLabour · May 2026
Show as a table, with Hampshire County Council’s 3 divisions (3 councillors)
| Ward | Seats | Elected | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| CherrywoodRushmoor · all in Farnborough · 8,807 residents1 seat · May 2026 | 1 | Sally McGuinness | May 2026 |
| St Mark'sRushmoor · all in Farnborough · 8,495 residents1 seat · May 2026 | 1 | Craig William Card | May 2026 |
| KnellwoodRushmoor · all in Farnborough · 7,427 residents3 seats · May 2026, May 2024, May 2023 | 3 | Mara MakunuraPaul Graham TaylorCalum James Stewart | May 2026, May 2024, May 2023 |
| Cove and SouthwoodRushmoor · all in Farnborough · 7,354 residents1 seat · May 2026 | 1 | Martin John Tennant | May 2026 |
| St John'sRushmoor · all in Farnborough · 7,066 residents1 seat · May 2026 | 1 | Dave Bell | May 2026 |
| FernhillRushmoor · all in Farnborough · 7,037 residents3 seats · May 2026, May 2024 | 3 | Rob MatthewsIan Michael Brumwell SimpsonSteve Harden | May 2026, May 2024 |
| West HeathRushmoor · all in Farnborough · 6,837 residents3 seats · May 2026, May 2024, May 2023 | 3 | Ade AdeolaRhian JonesGareth Benjamin Lyon | May 2026, May 2024, May 2023 |
| EmpressRushmoor · all in Farnborough · 6,564 residents1 seat · May 2026 | 1 | Nicky Slater | May 2026 |
Hampshire County Council: county divisions
| Division | Seats | Elected | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| Farnborough South EDall in Farnborough · 22,486 residents1 seat · May 2026 | 1 | Roz Chadd | May 2026 |
| Farnborough West EDall in Farnborough · 21,257 residents1 seat · May 2026 | 1 | Chris Harding | May 2026 |
| Farnborough North EDall in Farnborough · 15,844 residents1 seat · May 2026 | 1 | Ian Michael Brumwell Simpson | May 2026 |
Councillors can resign, change party or sit as independents between elections; a by-election winner replaces someone not named here. Rushmoor 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).
Who led each council vote, 2021–2026
Share of all votes cast for candidates in Farnborough’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 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Green | 0% | 0% | 1.5% | 0% | 12.3% |
| Labour | 25.4% | 31.6% | 39% | 41.8% | 20.3% |
| Liberal Democrat | 15.5% | 20% | 18.9% | 15% | 10.4% |
| Conservative | 57.9% | 48.4% | 39.2% | 40.2% | 26.2% |
| Reform UK | 0.1% | 0% | 0.6% | 2.4% | 30.9% |
In 2026, Reform UK won 4, the Conservatives won 3, Labour won 1 and the Liberal Democrats won 1 of the 9 seats up in Farnborough’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.
Rushmoor council election, May 2026
Results in the wards that make up Farnborough, as declared. Percentages are of votes cast for candidates in each ward; where a ward elects several councillors, each voter has that many votes.
8 wards voted. Not every seat in the town’s wards was up this time.
No election is scheduled yet for Farnborough’s wards in Democracy Club’s list. Councils publish a notice of election about five weeks before polling day.
Who can I vote for? ↗1,773 votes for candidates
2,131 votes for candidates
2,887 votes for candidates
Every ward’s result (5 more)
2,371 votes for candidates
2,197 votes for candidates
3,659 votes for candidates · 2 seats, so 2 votes each
2,121 votes for candidates
2,349 votes for candidates
Candidates and results: Democracy Club (CC BY 4.0), from councils’ declared results; polling dates from Democracy Club’s EveryElection.
Farnborough is in Aldershot constituency
The constituency’s MP and the 4 July 2024 general election, the whole constituency’s result (it reaches beyond Farnborough).
48,544 votes for candidates · majority 5,683
Labour, MP since 4 July 2024.
turnout in July 2024: 48,544 votes from 78,553 registered voters. England: 60%.
Majority 5,683 of 48,544 votes (11.7%): the 225th-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.
Farnborough’s Band D council tax is £2,320 a year
Where a Band D bill goes, what it has cost over the years, and what the councils plan to spend per resident.
Rushmoor Borough Council keeps £246.87 of a Band D bill (11%); the rest goes to Hampshire County Council, the Hampshire police and crime commissioner and the Hampshire and IOW Fire and Rescue Authority.
Across the whole town the average Band D is £2,321 (parishes differ; weighted by residents).
Band D since 1993
Rushmoor’s Band D bill has risen 56% in ten years, from £1,490.07 in 2016–17, in line with England’s average (56%). It was £454.50 in 1993–94.
Your bill by band
A Band D home in the unparished part of Rushmoor, 2026–27, before discounts. The Valuation Office Agency’s band search gives any home’s band.
Hampshire’s councils
Average Band D in each council area, 2026–27, parish precepts included; the 11 nearest of 13. Bars start at £2,100.
Council budgets per resident, 2026–27
Show as a table, with Hampshire
| Rushmoor + Hampshire | Farnborough’s councils | Hampshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adult social care | £486 | £478 | £487 |
| Children’s social care | £258 | £272 | £290 |
| Roads and transport | £60 | £49 | £41 |
| Housing (not council homes’ rents) | £25 | £37 | £61 |
| Bins, street cleaning, environment | £112 | £121 | £119 |
| Libraries, leisure, culture | £49 | £38 | £44 |
| Planning and development | £26 | £32 | £26 |
| Public health | £50 | £62 | £78 |
| Running the council | £45 | £58 | £59 |
| Other | £13 | £1 | £19 |
| Total, schools apart | £1,123 | £1,146 | £1,234 |
Net budgeted service spending, MHCLG Revenue Account budget 2026–27, per resident (ONS mid-2025 estimates). Both tiers added: Rushmoor per its residents plus Hampshire 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. Hampshire 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 Farnborough 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.
rushmoor.gov.uk ↗Anyone can comment while an application is open for consultation.
rushmoor.gov.uk ↗The rules, nomination papers and guidance for council candidates.
Electoral Commission ↗Questions about how Farnborough is run
Which council runs Farnborough?
The county council runs schools, social care and roads; the district runs bins, planning and housing.
Does Farnborough have a town council?
No. Farnborough is unparished, so there is no town or parish council and no parish precept.
Who is the MP for Farnborough?
Alex Baker (Labour) is the MP for Aldershot, which covers Farnborough.
How many councillors does Farnborough have?
14 ward councillors represent Farnborough’s 8 wards, and 3 county councillors its county divisions.
When are the next elections in Farnborough?
No election is scheduled yet in Democracy Club’s list for Farnborough’s wards. The next UK general election must be held by August 2029.
How much is council tax in Farnborough?
Band D council tax in Farnborough is £2,321 for 2026–27. Your bill depends on your home’s band, from A (6/9 of Band D) to H (18/9).
Who controls Rushmoor Borough Council?
No party has a majority. As elected, Labour 19 · Conservative 11 · Reform UK 6 · Liberal Democrat 3 of 39 seats; a majority needs 20. The council’s website lists who leads it now.
Who controls Hampshire County Council?
As elected, Conservative 27 · Liberal Democrat 26 · Reform UK 20 · Green 1 · Labour 1 · Independent 1 · Community Campaign (Hart) 1 · Whitehill & Bordon Community Party 1 of 78 seats; a majority needs 40.
Who won the 2026 council election in Farnborough?
In Farnborough’s wards on 7 May 2026, Reform UK 4 · Conservative 3 · Labour 1 · Liberal Democrat 1 of the 9 seats up. Reform UK had the largest share of votes, 30.9%.
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.