Kingsway Hall · Photo: Enchufla Con Clave · CC BY-SA 4.0Labour holds a majority on Mansfield District Council
Forest Town is run by Mansfield District Council, Newark and Sherwood District Council and Nottinghamshire County Council. Labour has a majority on Mansfield District Council. No party holds a majority on Newark and Sherwood District Council. Reform UK has a majority on Nottinghamshire County Council. Most of Forest Town is in Mansfield (MP Steve Yemm, Labour); 32% of residents are in Sherwood Forest (MP Michelle Welsh, Labour).
£2,626
Band D, a year, the middle band every council sets its tax from.
Where it goes →How Forest Town’s politics has changed since 2021
A majority on Mansfield District Council
Labour holds a majority on Mansfield District Council: 26 of its 36 seats as elected. The Conservatives hold 4, Mansfield Independents 4 and independents 2. Who’s in charge ↓
Nottinghamshire changed hands in 2025
Nottinghamshire County Council, which runs schools, social care and roads, went from a Conservative majority (36 of 66 seats in 2021) to a Reform UK majority at the May 2025 election: Reform UK won 41 of 66 seats. Nottinghamshire ↓
Council tax
A Band D bill in Forest Town is £2,596 for 2026–27; Mansfield District Council keeps 8% of it. The council area’s Band D has risen 50% 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 Forest Town’s councils
Seats by party as elected. A party needs 19 of Mansfield’s 36 or 20 of Newark and Sherwood’s 39 or 34 of Nottinghamshire’s 66 seats to run the council alone.
- Labour26
- Conservative4
- Mansfield Independents4
- Independent2
Latest election: May 2023.
- Conservative14
- Labour11
- Independent9
- Liberal Democrat3
- Reform UK2
Latest election: May 2023.
- Reform UK41+41
- Conservative18−18
- Labour4−11
- Ashfield Independents1−9
- Broxtowe Alliance1+1
- Broxtowe Independent Group1+1
- Independent0−4
- Liberal Democrat0−1
Change against the council before the 1 May 2025 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, and a parish tier
Forest Town has two tiers of council: the county runs the big services, the district the local ones.
The parish council for the part of Forest Town inside Clipstone parish.
32% of Forest Town’s residents · Band D precept £106
Bins and recycling, planning, housing, environmental health, leisure, and collecting council tax.
68% of Forest Town’s residents · Led by an elected mayor: Andy Abrahams (Labour), elected May 2023
Website ↗Bins and recycling, planning, housing, environmental health, leisure, and collecting council tax.
32% of Forest Town’s residents
Website ↗Schools, social care, roads and transport, libraries and waste disposal.
Website ↗Transport, skills and regeneration across several council areas. It is led by an elected mayor.
Mayor: Claire Ward (Labour and Co-operative), elected May 2024
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.
68% of Forest Town’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 Forest Town, from the most recent elections.
- 1Town or parishParish tierClipstone parish council
- 2Council wards5 wards · 7 councillorsPaul Stephen PeacockAndrew FreemanAnne Celia BrooksAngie JacksonMick BartonMartin WrightSid Walker
- 3Nottinghamshire County Council3 divisions · 5 councillorsMick BartonMartin WrightJames GambleGaynor Sharon MannDavid Malcolm Smith
- 4Mayor of MansfieldMansfield District Council · elected May 2023Andy Abrahams
- 5Mayor of East Midlands Combined County AuthorityEast Midlands Combined County Authority · elected May 2024Claire Ward
- 6Police and crime commissionerNottinghamshire Police · elected May 2024Gary Godden
- 7House of CommonsSplit between 2 constituencies
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.
7 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.
- Paul Stephen PeacockLabour · May 2023
- Andrew FreemanLabour · May 2023
- Anne Celia BrooksLabour · May 2023
- Angie JacksonLabour · May 2023
- Mick BartonMansfield Independents · May 2023
- Martin WrightMansfield Independents · May 2023
- Sid WalkerMansfield Independents · May 2023
Show as a table, with Nottinghamshire County Council’s 3 divisions (5 councillors)
| Ward | Seats | Elected | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| Edwinstowe & ClipstoneNewark and Sherwood · mostly in Forest Town · 6,137 residents3 seats · May 2023 | 3 | Paul Stephen PeacockAndrew FreemanAnne Celia Brooks | May 2023 |
| Kingsway Forest TownMansfield · all in Forest Town · 3,631 residents1 seat · May 2023 | 1 | Angie Jackson | May 2023 |
| Maun Valley Forest TownMansfield · all in Forest Town · 3,481 residents1 seat · May 2023 | 1 | Mick Barton | May 2023 |
| Holly Forest TownMansfield · all in Forest Town · 3,055 residents1 seat · May 2023 | 1 | Martin Wright | May 2023 |
| Newlands Forest TownMansfield · all in Forest Town · 2,711 residents1 seat · May 2023 | 1 | Sid Walker | May 2023 |
Nottinghamshire County Council: county divisions
| Division | Seats | Elected | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mansfield East ED33% in Forest Town · 9,397 residents2 seats · May 2025 | 2 | Mick BartonMartin Wright | May 2025 |
| Sherwood Forest EDmostly in Forest Town · 6,137 residents1 seat · May 2025 | 1 | James Gamble | May 2025 |
| Mansfield North ED12% in Forest Town · 3,481 residents2 seats · June 2025 | 2 | Gaynor Sharon MannDavid Malcolm Smith | June 2025 |
Councillors can resign, change party or sit as independents between elections; a by-election winner replaces someone not named here. Mansfield District 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).
Newark and Sherwood council election, May 2023
Results in the wards that make up Forest Town, 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 Forest Town’s wards in Democracy Club’s list. Councils publish a notice of election about five weeks before polling day.
Who can I vote for? ↗6,633 votes for candidates · 3 seats, so 3 votes each
686 votes for candidates
781 votes for candidates
Every ward’s result (2 more)
705 votes for candidates
476 votes for candidates
Candidates and results: Democracy Club (CC BY 4.0), from councils’ declared results; polling dates from Democracy Club’s EveryElection.
Forest Town is split between 2 constituencies
The constituencies’ MP and the 4 July 2024 general election, the whole constituency’s result.
Labour, MP since 4 July 2024
68% of Forest Town’s residents live in this constituency.
Turnout 55% (England 60%).
Majority 3,485 of 41,087 votes (8.5%): the 157th-narrowest of 543 in England.
Labour, MP since 4 July 2024
32% of Forest Town’s residents live in this constituency.
Turnout 62% (England 60%).
Majority 5,443 of 48,660 votes (11.2%): the 213th-narrowest of 543 in England.
41,087 votes for candidates · majority 3,485
Labour, MP since 4 July 2024.
turnout in July 2024: 41,087 votes from 74,535 registered voters. England: 60%.
Majority 3,485 of 41,087 votes (8.5%): the 157th-narrowest of 543 in England.
Sherwood Forest
48,660 votes for candidates · majority 5,443
Labour, MP since 4 July 2024.
turnout in July 2024: 48,660 votes from 78,896 registered voters. England: 60%.
Majority 5,443 of 48,660 votes (11.2%): the 213th-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.
Forest Town’s Band D council tax is £2,596 a year
Where a Band D bill goes, what it has cost over the years, and what the councils plan to spend per resident.
Mansfield District Council keeps £212.72 of a Band D bill (8%); the rest goes to Nottinghamshire County Council, the Nottinghamshire police and crime commissioner and the Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Authority.
Across the whole town the average Band D is £2,626 (parishes differ; weighted by residents).
Band D since 1993
Mansfield’s Band D bill has risen 50% in ten years, from £1,731.79 in 2016–17, against England’s average (56%). It was £677.25 in 1993–94.
Your bill by band
A Band D home in the unparished part of Mansfield, 2026–27, before discounts. The Valuation Office Agency’s band search gives any home’s band.
Nottinghamshire’s councils
Average Band D in each council area, 2026–27, parish precepts included. Bars start at £2,500.
Council budgets per resident, 2026–27
Show as a table, with Nottinghamshire
| Mansfield + Nottinghamshire | Forest Town’s councils | Nottinghamshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adult social care | £505 | £510 | £487 |
| Children’s social care | £275 | £310 | £290 |
| Roads and transport | £31 | £65 | £41 |
| Housing (not council homes’ rents) | £9 | £39 | £61 |
| Bins, street cleaning, environment | £115 | £116 | £119 |
| Libraries, leisure, culture | £39 | £38 | £44 |
| Planning and development | £11 | £32 | £26 |
| Public health | £68 | £90 | £78 |
| Running the council | £36 | £49 | £59 |
| Other | £23 | £38 | £19 |
| Total, schools apart | £1,112 | £1,287 | £1,234 |
Net budgeted service spending, MHCLG Revenue Account budget 2026–27, per resident (ONS mid-2025 estimates). Both tiers added: Mansfield per its residents plus Nottinghamshire 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. Nottinghamshire 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 Forest Town 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.
mansfield.gov.uk ↗Anyone can comment while an application is open for consultation.
mansfield.gov.uk ↗The rules, nomination papers and guidance for council candidates.
Electoral Commission ↗Questions about how Forest Town is run
Which council runs Forest Town?
The county council runs schools, social care and roads; the district runs bins, planning and housing.
Does Forest Town have a town council?
Parts of it do: Clipstone parish council.
Who is the MP for Forest Town?
Forest Town is split between 2 constituencies: Mansfield (Steve Yemm, Labour) and Sherwood Forest (Michelle Welsh, Labour). Parliament’s Find your MP service matches a postcode to its MP.
How many councillors does Forest Town have?
7 ward councillors represent Forest Town’s 5 wards, and 5 county councillors its county divisions.
When are the next elections in Forest Town?
No election is scheduled yet in Democracy Club’s list for Forest Town’s wards. The next UK general election must be held by August 2029.
How much is council tax in Forest Town?
Band D council tax in Forest Town is £2,626 for 2026–27. Your bill depends on your home’s band, from A (6/9 of Band D) to H (18/9).
Who controls Mansfield District Council?
Labour has a majority: 26 of 36 seats as elected. The council’s website lists who leads it now.
Who controls Newark and Sherwood District Council?
No party has a majority. As elected, Conservative 14 · Labour 11 · Independent 9 · Liberal Democrat 3 · Reform UK 2 of 39 seats; a majority needs 20.
Who won the 2023 council election in Forest Town?
In Forest Town’s wards on 4 May 2023, Labour 4 · Mansfield Independents 3 of the 7 seats up. Labour had the largest share of votes, 49.4%.
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.