Photo: DS Pugh · CC BY-SA 2.0The Liberal Democrats hold a majority on Tunbridge Wells Borough Council
Royal Tunbridge Wells is run by Tunbridge Wells Borough Council and Kent County Council. The Liberal Democrats have a majority on Tunbridge Wells Borough Council. Reform UK has a majority on Kent County Council. Its MP is Mike Martin (Liberal Democrat), member for Tunbridge Wells.
£2,366
Band D, a year, the middle band every council sets its tax from.
Where it goes →How Royal Tunbridge Wells’s politics has changed since 2021
A majority on Tunbridge Wells Borough Council
The Liberal Democrats hold a majority on Tunbridge Wells Borough Council: 26 of its 39 seats as elected (it held 22 before the May 2026 election). The Conservatives hold 7, Labour 3, Tunbridge Wells Alliance 2 and Independents for Tunbridge Wells 1. Who’s in charge ↓
Kent in 2025
Kent County Council, which runs schools, social care and roads, has a Reform UK majority at the May 2025 election: Reform UK won 56 of 82 seats. Kent ↓
The 2026 vote
Across Royal Tunbridge Wells’s wards, the Liberal Democrats took 45.9%, the Conservatives took 19% and Reform UK took 18% of votes in May 2026. In 2024, the Liberal Democrats had 43.8%. How Royal Tunbridge Wells has voted ↓
Council tax
A Band D bill in Royal Tunbridge Wells is £2,361 for 2026–27; Tunbridge Wells Borough Council keeps 9% 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.
Who holds the seats on Royal Tunbridge Wells’s councils
Seats by party as elected. A party needs 20 of Tunbridge Wells’s 39 or 42 of Kent’s 82 seats to run the council alone.
- Liberal Democrat26+4
- Conservative7no change
- Labour3−2
- Tunbridge Wells Alliance2−2
- Independents for Tunbridge Wells1no change
Change against the council before the 7 May 2026 election.
- Reform UK56
- Liberal Democrat12
- Conservative6
- Green6
- Labour2
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.
Two tiers of council, and a parish tier
Royal Tunbridge Wells has two tiers of council: the county runs the big services, the district the local ones.
The parish council for the part of Royal Tunbridge Wells inside Southborough parish.
3% of Royal Tunbridge Wells’s residents · Band D precept £167
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.
97% of Royal Tunbridge Wells’s residents live outside any parish, with no parish council.
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 Royal Tunbridge Wells, from the most recent elections.
- 1Town or parishParish tierSouthborough parish council
- 2Tunbridge Wells Borough Council7 wards · 18 councillorsLiberal Democrat 18 · Labour 3 · Conservative 1 · all 22
- 3Kent County Council3 divisions · 3 councillorsMartin Dale BriceJohn Joseph MorelandMark Strafford Ellis
- 4Police and crime commissionerKent Police · elected May 2024Matthew Scott
- 5House of CommonsTunbridge Wells
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.
18 councillors for 7 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.
- Courtney SouperLiberal Democrat · May 2026
- Andrew WallaceLiberal Democrat · May 2026
- Hugo Giles PoundLabour · May 2024
- Victoria Taylor JonesLabour · May 2024
- Christian AtwoodConservative · May 2024
- Pamela Jean WilkinsonLiberal Democrat · May 2026
- Jamie JohnsonLiberal Democrat · May 2024
- Christopher John HallLiberal Democrat · May 2024
- Gavin BarrassLiberal Democrat · May 2026
- Ben ChapelardLiberal Democrat · May 2024
- Rob WormingtonLiberal Democrat · May 2024
- Courtney SouperLiberal Democrat · May 2024
- Richard William James BrownLiberal Democrat · May 2026
- Matt LoweLiberal Democrat · May 2024
- Corinna KeefeLiberal Democrat · May 2024
- Tara MatthewsLiberal Democrat · May 2024
- David OsborneLiberal Democrat · May 2026
- Justine Victoria RutlandLiberal Democrat · May 2024
- Martin Dale BriceLiberal Democrat · May 2024
- Ukonu Elisha ObasiLiberal Democrat · May 2026
- Simon John DavidsonLiberal Democrat · May 2025 · by-election
- Dianne HillLabour and Co-operative · May 2024
Show as a table, with Kent County Council’s 3 divisions (3 councillors)
| Ward | Seats | Elected | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sherwoodall in Royal Tunbridge Wells · 9,393 residents3 seats · May 2026, May 2024 | 3 | Courtney SouperAndrew WallaceHugo Giles PoundVictoria Taylor JonesChristian Atwood | May 2026, May 2024 |
| Pantilesall in Royal Tunbridge Wells · 9,318 residents3 seats · May 2026, May 2024 | 3 | Pamela Jean WilkinsonJamie JohnsonChristopher John Hall | May 2026, May 2024 |
| St James'all in Royal Tunbridge Wells · 8,539 residents3 seats · May 2026, May 2024 | 3 | Gavin BarrassBen ChapelardRob WormingtonCourtney Souper | May 2026, May 2024 |
| Parkall in Royal Tunbridge Wells · 8,124 residents3 seats · May 2026, May 2024 | 3 | Richard William James BrownMatt LoweCorinna KeefeTara Matthews | May 2026, May 2024 |
| Culverdenall in Royal Tunbridge Wells · 7,959 residents3 seats · May 2026, May 2024 | 3 | David OsborneJustine Victoria RutlandMartin Dale Brice | May 2026, May 2024 |
| St John'sall in Royal Tunbridge Wells · 6,106 residents2 seats · May 2026, May 2025 | 2 | Ukonu Elisha ObasiSimon John Davidsonby-election | May 2026, May 2025 |
| High Brooms48% in Royal Tunbridge Wells · 1,776 residents1 seat · May 2024 | 1 | Dianne Hill | May 2024 |
Kent County Council: county divisions
| Division | Seats | Elected | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tunbridge Wells South EDall in Royal Tunbridge Wells · 26,835 residents1 seat · May 2025 | 1 | Martin Dale Brice | May 2025 |
| Tunbridge Wells West ED46% in Royal Tunbridge Wells · 16,498 residents1 seat · May 2025 | 1 | John Joseph Moreland | May 2025 |
| Tunbridge Wells North EDmostly in Royal Tunbridge Wells · 7,882 residents1 seat · May 2025 | 1 | Mark Strafford Ellis | May 2025 |
Councillors can resign, change party or sit as independents between elections; a by-election winner replaces someone not named here. Tunbridge Wells 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 have led every council vote since 2024
Share of all votes cast for candidates in Royal Tunbridge Wells’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 | 6.7% | 11.9% |
| Labour | 15.8% | 3.6% |
| Liberal Democrat | 43.8% | 45.9% |
| Conservative | 25.9% | 19% |
| Reform UK | 1.3% | 18% |
In 2026, the Liberal Democrats won 7 of the 7 seats up in Royal Tunbridge Wells’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.
Tunbridge Wells council election, May 2026
Results in the wards that make up Royal Tunbridge Wells, as declared. Percentages are of votes cast for candidates in each ward; where a ward elects several councillors, each voter has that many votes.
6 wards voted. Tunbridge Wells elects a third of its councillors at a time, so a third of the seats were up.
No election is scheduled yet for Royal Tunbridge Wells’s wards in Democracy Club’s list. Councils publish a notice of election about five weeks before polling day.
Who can I vote for? ↗4,653 votes for candidates · 2 seats, so 2 votes each
3,040 votes for candidates
2,560 votes for candidates
Every ward’s result (3 more)
3,144 votes for candidates
2,835 votes for candidates
1,885 votes for candidates
Candidates and results: Democracy Club (CC BY 4.0), from councils’ declared results; polling dates from Democracy Club’s EveryElection.
Royal Tunbridge Wells is in Tunbridge Wells constituency
The constituency’s MP and the 4 July 2024 general election, the whole constituency’s result (it reaches beyond Royal Tunbridge Wells).
54,250 votes for candidates · majority 8,687
Liberal Democrat, MP since 4 July 2024.
turnout in July 2024: 54,250 votes from 78,738 registered voters. England: 60%.
Majority 8,687 of 54,250 votes (16%): wider than in 57% 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.
Royal Tunbridge Wells’s Band D council tax is £2,361 a year
Where a Band D bill goes, what it has cost over the years, and what the councils plan to spend per resident.
Tunbridge Wells Borough Council keeps £217.10 of a Band D bill (9%); the rest goes to Kent County Council, the Kent police and crime commissioner and the Kent Fire and Rescue Authority.
Across the whole town the average Band D is £2,366 (parishes differ; weighted by residents).
Band D since 1993
Tunbridge Wells’s Band D bill has risen 56% in ten years, from £1,568.91 in 2016–17, in line with England’s average (56%). It was £518.63 in 1993–94.
Your bill by band
A Band D home in the unparished part of Tunbridge Wells, 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
| Tunbridge Wells + Kent | Royal Tunbridge Wells’s councils | Kent | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adult social care | £505 | £492 | £487 |
| Children’s social care | £262 | £266 | £290 |
| Roads and transport | £39 | £49 | £41 |
| Housing (not council homes’ rents) | £29 | £41 | £61 |
| Bins, street cleaning, environment | £108 | £132 | £119 |
| Libraries, leisure, culture | £56 | £49 | £44 |
| Planning and development | £41 | £29 | £26 |
| Public health | £58 | £61 | £78 |
| Running the council | £70 | £74 | £59 |
| Other | £0 | £6 | £19 |
| Total, schools apart | £1,168 | £1,200 | £1,234 |
Net budgeted service spending, MHCLG Revenue Account budget 2026–27, per resident (ONS mid-2025 estimates). Both tiers added: Tunbridge Wells per its residents plus Kent 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. 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 Royal Tunbridge Wells 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.
tunbridgewells.gov.uk ↗Anyone can comment while an application is open for consultation.
tunbridgewells.gov.uk ↗The rules, nomination papers and guidance for council candidates.
Electoral Commission ↗Questions about how Royal Tunbridge Wells is run
Which council runs Royal Tunbridge Wells?
The county council runs schools, social care and roads; the district runs bins, planning and housing.
Does Royal Tunbridge Wells have a town council?
Parts of it do: Southborough parish council.
Who is the MP for Royal Tunbridge Wells?
Mike Martin (Liberal Democrat) is the MP for Tunbridge Wells, which covers Royal Tunbridge Wells.
How many councillors does Royal Tunbridge Wells have?
18 ward councillors represent Royal Tunbridge Wells’s 7 wards, and 3 county councillors its county divisions.
When are the next elections in Royal Tunbridge Wells?
No election is scheduled yet in Democracy Club’s list for Royal Tunbridge Wells’s wards. The next UK general election must be held by August 2029.
How much is council tax in Royal Tunbridge Wells?
Band D council tax in Royal Tunbridge Wells is £2,366 for 2026–27. Your bill depends on your home’s band, from A (6/9 of Band D) to H (18/9).
Who controls Tunbridge Wells Borough Council?
The Liberal Democrats have a majority: 26 of 39 seats as elected. The council’s website lists who leads it now.
Who controls Kent County Council?
Reform UK has a majority: 56 of 82 seats as elected.
Who won the 2026 council election in Royal Tunbridge Wells?
In Royal Tunbridge Wells’s wards on 7 May 2026, Liberal Democrat 7 of the 7 seats up. The Liberal Democrats had the largest share of votes, 45.9%.
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.