Photo: Chris Whippet · CC BY-SA 2.0Labour holds a majority on Medway Council
Grain is run by Medway Council, with Isle of Grain parish council for local matters. Labour has a majority on Medway Council. Its MP is Lauren Edwards (Labour), member for Rochester and Strood.
£2,517
Band D, a year, the middle band every council sets its tax from.
Where it goes →How Grain’s politics has changed since 2021
A majority on Medway Council
Labour holds a majority on Medway Council: 31 of its 59 seats as elected. The Conservatives hold 21, independents 4 and Reform UK 3. Who’s in charge ↓
Council tax
A Band D bill in Grain is £2,517 for 2026–27; Medway Council keeps 77% of it. The council area’s Band D has risen 59% 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 30 of Medway’s 59 seats to run the council alone.
- Labour31
- Conservative21
- Independent4
- Reform UK3
Latest election: May 2023.
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 Grain
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 Grain’s residents · Band D precept £198
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 Grain, from the most recent elections.
- 1Town or parishParish tierIsle of Grain parish council
- 2Medway Council1 ward · 1 councillorChris Spalding
- 3Police and crime commissionerKent Police · elected May 2024Matthew Scott
- 4House of CommonsRochester and Strood
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.
1 councillor 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.
- Chris SpaldingIndependent · May 2023
Show as a table
| Ward | Seats | Elected | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| All Saints36% in Grain · 1,728 residents1 seat · May 2023 | 1 | Chris Spalding | May 2023 |
Councillors can resign, change party or sit as independents between elections; a by-election winner replaces someone not named here. Medway 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).
Medway council election, May 2023
Results in the wards that make up Grain, 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. Every seat in the town’s wards was up.
No election is scheduled yet for Grain’s wards in Democracy Club’s list. Councils publish a notice of election about five weeks before polling day.
Who can I vote for? ↗960 votes for candidates
Candidates and results: Democracy Club (CC BY 4.0), from councils’ declared results; polling dates from Democracy Club’s EveryElection.
Grain is in Rochester and Strood constituency
The constituency’s MP and the 4 July 2024 general election, the whole constituency’s result (it reaches beyond Grain).
42,598 votes for candidates · majority 2,930
Labour, MP since 4 July 2024.
turnout in July 2024: 42,598 votes from 74,257 registered voters. England: 60%.
Majority 2,930 of 42,598 votes (6.9%): the 129th-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.
Grain’s Band D council tax is £2,517 a year
Where a Band D bill goes, what it has cost over the years, and what the councils plan to spend per resident.
Medway Council keeps £1,934.33 of a Band D bill (77%); the rest goes to the Isle of Grain parish council, the Kent police and crime commissioner and the Kent Fire and Rescue Authority.
Band D since 1998
Medway’s Band D bill has risen 59% in ten years, from £1,463.73 in 2016–17, against England’s average (56%). It was £635.44 in 1998–99.
Your bill by band
A Band D home in Isle of Grain, 2026–27, before discounts. The Valuation Office Agency’s band search gives any home’s band.
Kent’s councils
Average Band D in each council area, 2026–27, parish precepts included; the 11 nearest of 13. Bars start at £2,200.
Council budgets per resident, 2026–27
Show as a table, with Kent
| Medway | Grain’s councils | Kent | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adult social care | £419 | £492 | £487 |
| Children’s social care | £288 | £266 | £290 |
| Roads and transport | £23 | £49 | £41 |
| Housing (not council homes’ rents) | £40 | £41 | £61 |
| Bins, street cleaning, environment | £130 | £132 | £119 |
| Libraries, leisure, culture | £74 | £49 | £44 |
| Planning and development | £22 | £29 | £26 |
| Public health | £78 | £61 | £78 |
| Running the council | £59 | £74 | £59 |
| Other | £0 | £6 | £19 |
| Total, schools apart | £1,132 | £1,200 | £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. Kent 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 Grain 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.
medway.gov.uk ↗Anyone can comment while an application is open for consultation.
medway.gov.uk ↗The rules, nomination papers and guidance for council candidates.
Electoral Commission ↗Questions about how Grain is run
Which council runs Grain?
Grain is run by Medway Council.
Does Grain have a town council?
Yes: Grain has its own parish-tier council (Isle of Grain parish council; town councils are parish councils by another name), which adds £198 to a Band D bill in 2026–27.
Who is the MP for Grain?
Lauren Edwards (Labour) is the MP for Rochester and Strood, which covers Grain.
How many councillors does Grain have?
1 ward councillors represent Grain’s 1 ward.
When are the next elections in Grain?
No election is scheduled yet in Democracy Club’s list for Grain’s wards. The next UK general election must be held by August 2029.
How much is council tax in Grain?
Band D council tax in Grain is £2,517 for 2026–27. Your bill depends on your home’s band, from A (6/9 of Band D) to H (18/9).
Who controls Medway Council?
Labour has a majority: 31 of 59 seats as elected. The council’s website lists who leads it now.
Who won the 2023 council election in Grain?
In Grain’s wards on 4 May 2023, Independent 1 of the 1 seats up. Independents had the largest share of votes, 57%.
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.