Photo: Michael Garlick · CC BY-SA 2.0No party holds a majority on Northumberland County Council
Hexham is run by Northumberland County Council, with Hexham parish council for local matters. No party holds a majority on Northumberland County Council. Its MP is Joe Morris (Labour), member for Hexham.
£2,642
Band D, a year, the middle band every council sets its tax from.
Where it goes →How Hexham’s politics has changed since 2021
No majority on Northumberland County Council
The Conservatives, the largest group, hold 27 of its 69 seats as elected, 8 short of the 35 needed. Reform UK holds 20, Labour 10, independents 7, the Liberal Democrats 3 and the Greens 2. Who’s in charge ↓
Council tax
A Band D bill in Hexham is £2,642 for 2026–27; Northumberland County Council keeps 86% of it. The council area’s Band D has risen 57% 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
Seats by party as elected. A party needs 35 of Northumberland’s 69 seats to run the council alone.
- Conservative27
- Reform UK20
- Labour10
- Independent7
- Liberal Democrat3
- Green2
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.
The councils that run Hexham
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 Hexham’s residents · Band D precept £148
Every main council service: schools, social care, roads, bins, planning, housing and libraries.
Website ↗Transport, skills and regeneration across several council areas. It is led by an elected mayor.
Mayor: Kim McGuinness (Labour and Co-operative), elected May 2024
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 Hexham, from the most recent elections.
- 1Town or parishParish tierHexham parish council
- 2Northumberland County Council3 wards · 3 councillorsSuzanne Holly Fairless-AitkenDerek KennedyTrevor Cessford
- 3Mayor of North East Combined AuthorityNorth East Combined Authority · elected May 2024Kim McGuinness
- 4Police and crime commissionerNorthumbria Police · elected May 2024Susan Dungworth
- 5House of CommonsHexham
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 3 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.
- Suzanne Holly Fairless-AitkenLiberal Democrat · May 2025
- Derek KennedyIndependent · May 2025
- Trevor CessfordConservative · May 2025
Show as a table
| Ward | Seats | Elected | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hexham Eastall in Hexham · 4,285 residents1 seat · May 2025 | 1 | Suzanne Holly Fairless-Aitken | May 2025 |
| Hexham Westmostly in Hexham · 4,037 residents1 seat · May 2025 | 1 | Derek Kennedy | May 2025 |
| Hexham Northmostly in Hexham · 2,623 residents1 seat · May 2025 | 1 | Trevor Cessford | May 2025 |
Councillors can resign, change party or sit as independents between elections; a by-election winner replaces someone not named here. Northumberland County 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).
Northumberland council election, May 2025
Results in the wards that make up Hexham, as declared. Percentages are of votes cast for candidates in each ward; where a ward elects several councillors, each voter has that many votes.
3 wards voted. Every seat in the town’s wards was up.
No election is scheduled yet for Hexham’s wards in Democracy Club’s list. Councils publish a notice of election about five weeks before polling day.
Who can I vote for? ↗1,496 votes for candidates
1,753 votes for candidates
1,443 votes for candidates
Candidates and results: Democracy Club (CC BY 4.0), from councils’ declared results; polling dates from Democracy Club’s EveryElection.
Hexham is in Hexham constituency
The constituency’s MP and the 4 July 2024 general election, the whole constituency’s result (it reaches beyond Hexham).
51,828 votes for candidates · majority 3,713
Labour, MP since 4 July 2024.
turnout in July 2024: 51,828 votes from 76,431 registered voters. England: 60%.
Majority 3,713 of 51,828 votes (7.2%): the 134th-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.
Hexham’s Band D council tax is £2,642 a year
Where a Band D bill goes, what it has cost over the years, and what the councils plan to spend per resident.
Northumberland County Council keeps £2,279.36 of a Band D bill (86%); the rest goes to the Hexham parish council and the Northumbria police and crime commissioner.
Band D since 2009
Northumberland’s Band D bill has risen 57% in ten years, from £1,656.89 in 2016–17, in line with England’s average (56%). It was £1,445.08 in 2009–10.
Your bill by band
A Band D home in Hexham, 2026–27, before discounts. The Valuation Office Agency’s band search gives any home’s band.
Council budgets per resident, 2026–27
Show as a table, with Northumberland
| Northumberland | Hexham’s councils | Northumberland | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adult social care | £480 | £480 | £487 |
| Children’s social care | £256 | £256 | £290 |
| Roads and transport | £35 | £35 | £41 |
| Housing (not council homes’ rents) | £21 | £21 | £61 |
| Bins, street cleaning, environment | £161 | £161 | £119 |
| Libraries, leisure, culture | £42 | £42 | £44 |
| Planning and development | £11 | £11 | £26 |
| Public health | £69 | £69 | £78 |
| Running the council | £40 | £40 | £59 |
| Other | £0 | £0 | £19 |
| Total, schools apart | £1,186 | £1,186 | £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. Northumberland 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 Hexham 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.
northumberland.gov.uk ↗Anyone can comment while an application is open for consultation.
northumberland.gov.uk ↗The rules, nomination papers and guidance for council candidates.
Electoral Commission ↗Questions about how Hexham is run
Which council runs Hexham?
Hexham is run by Northumberland County Council.
Does Hexham have a town council?
Yes: Hexham has its own parish-tier council (Hexham parish council; town councils are parish councils by another name), which adds £148 to a Band D bill in 2026–27.
Who is the MP for Hexham?
Joe Morris (Labour) is the MP for Hexham, which covers Hexham.
How many councillors does Hexham have?
3 ward councillors represent Hexham’s 3 wards.
When are the next elections in Hexham?
No election is scheduled yet in Democracy Club’s list for Hexham’s wards. The next UK general election must be held by August 2029.
How much is council tax in Hexham?
Band D council tax in Hexham is £2,642 for 2026–27. Your bill depends on your home’s band, from A (6/9 of Band D) to H (18/9).
Who controls Northumberland County Council?
No party has a majority. As elected, Conservative 27 · Reform UK 20 · Labour 10 · Independent 7 · Liberal Democrat 3 · Green 2 of 69 seats; a majority needs 35. The council’s website lists who leads it now.
Who won the 2025 council election in Hexham?
In Hexham’s wards on 1 May 2025, Liberal Democrat 1 · Independent 1 · Conservative 1 of the 3 seats up. The Conservatives had the largest share of votes, 20.2%.
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.