Photo: Paste at English Wikipedia · Public domainNo party holds a majority on Canterbury City Council
Whitstable is run by Canterbury City Council and Kent County Council. No party holds a majority on Canterbury City Council. Reform UK has a majority on Kent County Council. Its MP is Rosie Duffield (Independent), member for Canterbury.
£2,402
Band D, a year, the middle band every council sets its tax from.
Where it goes →How Whitstable’s politics has changed since 2021
No majority on Canterbury City Council
Labour, the largest group, holds 18 of its 39 seats as elected, 2 short of the 20 needed. The Liberal Democrats hold 8, the Conservatives 8 and the Greens 5. 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 ↓
Council tax
A Band D bill in Whitstable is £2,398 for 2026–27; Canterbury City Council keeps 11% of it. The council area’s Band D has risen 55% 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 Whitstable’s councils
Seats by party as elected. A party needs 20 of Canterbury’s 39 or 42 of Kent’s 82 seats to run the council alone.
- Labour18
- Conservative8
- Liberal Democrat8
- Green5
Latest election: May 2023.
- 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
Whitstable has two tiers of council: the county runs the big services, the district the local ones.
The parish council for the part of Whitstable inside Chestfield parish.
9% of Whitstable’s residents · Band D precept £48
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.
91% of Whitstable’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 Whitstable, from the most recent elections.
- 1Town or parishParish tierChestfield parish council
- 2Canterbury City Council5 wards · 9 councillorsGreen 4 · Labour 4 · Liberal Democrat 2 · all 10
- 3Kent County Council3 divisions · 3 councillorsStuart HeaverAdrian John KibbleAlex Ricketts
- 4Police and crime commissionerKent Police · elected May 2024Matthew Scott
- 5House of CommonsCanterbury
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.
9 councillors for 5 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.
- Stuart HeaverGreen · March 2025 · by-election
- Clare Margaret TurnbullGreen · May 2023
- Chris CornellLabour · May 2023
- Steven Gordon WheelerGreen · May 2023
- Naomi SmithLabour · May 2023
- Charlotte CornellLabour · May 2023
- Peter John OldLiberal Democrat · May 2023
- James FlanaganLiberal Democrat · May 2023
- Keith BothwellGreen · May 2023
- Simon WarleyLabour · May 2023
Show as a table, with Kent County Council’s 3 divisions (3 councillors)
| Ward | Seats | Elected | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gorrellall in Whitstable · 10,625 residents3 seats · March 2025, May 2023 | 3 | Stuart Heaverby-electionClare Margaret TurnbullChris CornellSteven Gordon Wheeler | March 2025, May 2023 |
| Seasaltermostly in Whitstable · 7,169 residents2 seats · May 2023 | 2 | Naomi SmithCharlotte Cornell | May 2023 |
| Chestfieldall in Whitstable · 6,907 residents2 seats · May 2023 | 2 | Peter John OldJames Flanagan | May 2023 |
| Swalecliffeall in Whitstable · 3,957 residents1 seat · May 2023 | 1 | Keith Bothwell | May 2023 |
| Tankertonall in Whitstable · 3,527 residents1 seat · May 2023 | 1 | Simon Warley | May 2023 |
Kent County Council: county divisions
| Division | Seats | Elected | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whitstable West EDall in Whitstable · 17,794 residents1 seat · May 2025 | 1 | Stuart Heaver | May 2025 |
| Whitstable East & Herne Bay West ED26% in Whitstable · 7,484 residents1 seat · May 2025 | 1 | Adrian John Kibble | May 2025 |
| Canterbury North ED40% in Whitstable · 6,907 residents1 seat · May 2025 | 1 | Alex Ricketts | May 2025 |
Councillors can resign, change party or sit as independents between elections; a by-election winner replaces someone not named here. Canterbury City 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).
Canterbury council election, May 2023
Results in the wards that make up Whitstable, as declared. Percentages are of votes cast for candidates in each ward; where a ward elects several councillors, each voter has that many votes.
5 wards voted. Every seat in the town’s wards was up.
No election is scheduled yet for Whitstable’s wards in Democracy Club’s list. Councils publish a notice of election about five weeks before polling day.
Who can I vote for? ↗10,345 votes for candidates · 3 seats, so 3 votes each
4,926 votes for candidates · 2 seats, so 2 votes each
4,811 votes for candidates · 2 seats, so 2 votes each
Every ward’s result (2 more)
1,390 votes for candidates
1,460 votes for candidates
Candidates and results: Democracy Club (CC BY 4.0), from councils’ declared results; polling dates from Democracy Club’s EveryElection.
Whitstable is in Canterbury constituency
The constituency’s MP and the 4 July 2024 general election, the whole constituency’s result (it reaches beyond Whitstable).
47,231 votes for candidates · majority 8,653
Independent, MP since 8 June 2017.
turnout in July 2024: 47,231 votes from 71,155 registered voters. England: 60%.
Majority 8,653 of 47,231 votes (18.3%): wider than in 63% 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.
Whitstable’s Band D council tax is £2,398 a year
Where a Band D bill goes, what it has cost over the years, and what the councils plan to spend per resident.
Canterbury City Council keeps £254.43 of a Band D bill (11%); 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 £2,402 (parishes differ; weighted by residents).
Band D since 1993
Canterbury’s Band D bill has risen 55% in ten years, from £1,565.67 in 2016–17, against England’s average (56%). It was £544.50 in 1993–94.
Your bill by band
A Band D home in the unparished part of Canterbury, 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
| Canterbury + Kent | Whitstable’s councils | Kent | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adult social care | £505 | £492 | £487 |
| Children’s social care | £262 | £266 | £290 |
| Roads and transport | £34 | £49 | £41 |
| Housing (not council homes’ rents) | £18 | £41 | £61 |
| Bins, street cleaning, environment | £138 | £132 | £119 |
| Libraries, leisure, culture | £64 | £49 | £44 |
| Planning and development | £25 | £29 | £26 |
| Public health | £58 | £61 | £78 |
| Running the council | £70 | £74 | £59 |
| Other | £36 | £6 | £19 |
| Total, schools apart | £1,211 | £1,200 | £1,234 |
Net budgeted service spending, MHCLG Revenue Account budget 2026–27, per resident (ONS mid-2025 estimates). Both tiers added: Canterbury 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 Whitstable 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.
canterbury.gov.uk ↗Anyone can comment while an application is open for consultation.
canterbury.gov.uk ↗The rules, nomination papers and guidance for council candidates.
Electoral Commission ↗Questions about how Whitstable is run
Which council runs Whitstable?
The county council runs schools, social care and roads; the district runs bins, planning and housing.
Does Whitstable have a town council?
Parts of it do: Chestfield parish council.
Who is the MP for Whitstable?
Rosie Duffield (Independent) is the MP for Canterbury, which covers Whitstable.
How many councillors does Whitstable have?
9 ward councillors represent Whitstable’s 5 wards, and 3 county councillors its county divisions.
When are the next elections in Whitstable?
No election is scheduled yet in Democracy Club’s list for Whitstable’s wards. The next UK general election must be held by August 2029.
How much is council tax in Whitstable?
Band D council tax in Whitstable is £2,402 for 2026–27. Your bill depends on your home’s band, from A (6/9 of Band D) to H (18/9).
Who controls Canterbury City Council?
No party has a majority. As elected, Labour 18 · Liberal Democrat 8 · Conservative 8 · Green 5 of 39 seats; a majority needs 20. 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 2023 council election in Whitstable?
In Whitstable’s wards on 4 May 2023, Labour 4 · Green 3 · Liberal Democrat 2 of the 9 seats up. Labour had the largest share of votes, 33%.
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.