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Town Hall & politics · Somerset Council

The Liberal Democrats hold a majority on Somerset Council

Montacute is run by Somerset Council, with Montacute parish council for local matters. The Liberal Democrats have a majority on Somerset Council. Its MP is Sarah Dyke (Liberal Democrat), member for Glastonbury and Somerton.

Council tax 2026–27

£2,561

Band D, a year, the middle band every council sets its tax from.

Where it goes →
Band D council tax
£2,561
2026–27, a year
Ward councillors
2
1 ward · Somerset
MP
Sarah Dyke
Liberal Democrat · Glastonbury and Somerton
Turnout, July 2024
65%
Glastonbury and Somerton · England 60%
What stands out · In brief

How Montacute’s politics has changed since 2021

A majority on Somerset Council

The Liberal Democrats hold a majority on Somerset Council: 61 of its 108 seats as elected. The Conservatives hold 34, the Greens 5, Labour 5 and independents 3. Who’s in charge ↓

Written from the data on this page: Democracy Club results since May 2021, the UK Parliament Members API and MHCLG council tax.

Who’s in charge

Who holds the seats

Seats by party as elected. A party needs 55 of Somerset’s 108 seats to run the council alone.

Unitary council · 108 councillorsSomerset CouncilLiberal Democrat majority
GreenGreenGreenGreenGreenLabourLabourLabourLabourLabourLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratLiberal DemocratIndependentIndependentIndependentConservativeConservativeConservativeConservativeConservativeConservativeConservativeConservativeConservativeConservativeConservativeConservativeConservativeConservativeConservativeConservativeConservativeConservativeConservativeConservativeConservativeConservativeConservativeConservativeConservativeConservativeConservativeConservativeConservativeConservativeConservativeConservativeConservativeConservative108seats
  • Liberal Democrat61
  • Conservative34
  • Green5
  • Labour5
  • Independent3

Latest election: May 2022.

GreenLabourLiberal DemocratIndependentConservative

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.

Who runs Montacute

The councils that run Montacute

One council runs every main service here.

Town or parish councilMontacute parish council

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 Montacute’s residents · Band D precept £192

Unitary councilSomerset Council

Every main council service: schools, social care, roads, bins, planning, housing and libraries.

Website ↗

Who to ask

Bins and recyclingSomerset Council
Planning applicationsSomerset Council
Council housing and homelessnessSomerset Council
Council tax billsSomerset Council
Parks and leisure centresSomerset Council
Allotments, play areas, benchesMontacute parish council
Potholes, roads and streetlightsSomerset Council
Schools and school placesSomerset Council
Adult and children’s social careSomerset Council
LibrariesSomerset Council
Tips and recycling centresSomerset Council
Police priorities and budgetAvon and Somerset Constabulary police and crime commissioner
Fire safety visitsDevon & Somerset Fire and Rescue

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.

Who represents Montacute

From the parish to Westminster

Every elected tier that speaks for Montacute, from the most recent elections.

  1. 1
    Town or parishParish tier
    Montacute parish council
  2. 2
    Somerset Council1 ward · 2 councillors
    Oliver PatrickMike Hewitson
  3. 3
    Police and crime commissionerAvon and Somerset Constabulary · elected May 2024
    Clare Moody
  4. 4
    House of CommonsGlastonbury and Somerton
LabourLiberal Democrat

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.

Councillors

2 councillors 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.

Coker
865 residents · 9% in Montacute
  • Oliver PatrickLiberal Democrat · May 2022
  • Mike HewitsonLiberal Democrat · May 2022
Liberal Democrat
Show as a table
WardSeatsElectedWhen
Coker9% in Montacute · 865 residents2 seats · May 20222
Oliver PatrickMike Hewitson
May 2022

Councillors can resign, change party or sit as independents between elections; a by-election winner replaces someone not named here. Somerset 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).

Local elections

Somerset council election, May 2022

Results in the wards that make up Montacute, as declared. Percentages are of votes cast for candidates in each ward; where a ward elects several councillors, each voter has that many votes.

Seats won in Montacute’s wards2 seats · 5 May 2022
Liberal Democrat2

1 ward voted. Every seat in the town’s wards was up.

Next elections

No election is scheduled yet for Montacute’s wards in Democracy Club’s list. Councils publish a notice of election about five weeks before polling day.

Who can I vote for? ↗
Coker5 May 2022
Oliver Patrick ElectedLiberal Democrat28.8%
Mike Hewitson ElectedLiberal Democrat28.7%
Robert Leonard David JanesConservative20.4%
Huw Rutherford LawfordConservative18.4%
Jane Elizabeth Carter-UrenLabour3.8%

6,458 votes for candidates · 2 seats, so 2 votes each

LabourConservativeLiberal Democrat

Candidates and results: Democracy Club (CC BY 4.0), from councils’ declared results; polling dates from Democracy Club’s EveryElection.

Parliament

Montacute is in Glastonbury and Somerton constituency

The constituency’s MP and the 4 July 2024 general election, the whole constituency’s result (it reaches beyond Montacute).

Glastonbury and Somerton · general election4 July 2024
Sarah Dyke ElectedLiberal Democrat42.7%
Faye PurbrickConservative28.9%
Tom CarterReform UK16.1%
Hal HoobermanLabour6.5%
Jon CousinsGreen5.7%

47,642 votes for candidates · majority 6,611

MP for Glastonbury and Somerton

Sarah Dyke

Liberal Democrat, MP since 20 July 2023.

65%

turnout in July 2024: 47,642 votes from 73,268 registered voters. England: 60%.

Majority 6,611 of 47,642 votes (13.9%): the 271st-narrowest of 543 in England.

LabourConservativeLiberal DemocratReform UKGreen

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.

Council money

Montacute’s Band D council tax is £2,561 a year

Where a Band D bill goes, what it has cost over the years, and what the councils plan to spend per resident.

COUNCIL TAXBand D · 2026–27 · a Band D home in Montacute
Montacute parish councilparish precept£192.44
Somerset Councilcouncil£1,950.89
Avon & Somerset police and crime commissionerpolice and crime£308.20
Devon & Somerset Fire and Rescue Authorityfire and rescue£109.68
A year£2,561.21
Bills by band run from 6/9 of Band D (Band A) to 18/9 (Band H). Discounts and support reduce many bills.

Somerset Council keeps £1,950.89 of a Band D bill (76%); the rest goes to the Montacute parish council, the Avon & Somerset police and crime commissioner and the Devon & Somerset Fire and Rescue Authority.

Your bill by band

Band A 6/9£1,707
Band B 7/9£1,992
Band C 8/9£2,277
Band D 9/9£2,561
Band E 11/9£3,130
Band F 13/9£3,700
Band G 15/9£4,269
Band H 18/9£5,122

A Band D home in Montacute, 2026–27, before discounts. The Valuation Office Agency’s band search gives any home’s band.

Somerset’s councils

Bath and North East Somerset£2,383
North Somerset£2,491
Somerset£2,561

Average Band D in each council area, 2026–27, parish precepts included. Bars start at £2,200.

Council budgets per resident, 2026–27

ServiceSomersetvs England
Adult social care£507+£20
Children’s social care£292+£2
Roads and transport£40−£1
Housing (not council homes’ rents)£31−£30
Bins, street cleaning, environment£150+£31
Libraries, leisure, culture£25−£19
Planning and development£15−£11
Public health£51−£27
Running the council£41−£18
Other£20+£1
Montacute’s councils, per residentEngland, all councils
Show as a table, with Somerset
SomersetMontacute’s councilsSomersetEngland
Adult social care£507£487£487
Children’s social care£292£277£290
Roads and transport£40£33£41
Housing (not council homes’ rents)£31£33£61
Bins, street cleaning, environment£150£136£119
Libraries, leisure, culture£25£16£44
Planning and development£15£16£26
Public health£51£56£78
Running the council£41£46£59
Other£20£8£19
Total, schools apart£1,172£1,108£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. Somerset 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.

Get involved

Having a say in how Montacute is run

Register to vote

It takes about five minutes online; the deadline is 12 working days before a poll.

gov.uk ↗
Contact your councillors or MP

Type a postcode to write to each of its councillors and its MP.

WriteToThem ↗
Report a pothole or a broken streetlight

GOV.UK sends the report to the council that looks after the road.

gov.uk ↗
Watch or speak at a council meeting

Council and committee meetings are open to the public, with agendas and minutes online.

somerset.gov.uk ↗
Comment on a planning application

Anyone can comment while an application is open for consultation.

somerset.gov.uk ↗
Stand for election

The rules, nomination papers and guidance for council candidates.

Electoral Commission ↗

Questions about how Montacute is run

Which council runs Montacute?

Montacute is run by Somerset Council.

Does Montacute have a town council?

Yes: Montacute has its own parish-tier council (Montacute parish council; town councils are parish councils by another name), which adds £192 to a Band D bill in 2026–27.

Who is the MP for Montacute?

Sarah Dyke (Liberal Democrat) is the MP for Glastonbury and Somerton, which covers Montacute.

How many councillors does Montacute have?

2 ward councillors represent Montacute’s 1 ward.

When are the next elections in Montacute?

No election is scheduled yet in Democracy Club’s list for Montacute’s wards. The next UK general election must be held by August 2029.

How much is council tax in Montacute?

Band D council tax in Montacute is £2,561 for 2026–27. Your bill depends on your home’s band, from A (6/9 of Band D) to H (18/9).

Who controls Somerset Council?

The Liberal Democrats have a majority: 61 of 108 seats as elected. The council’s website lists who leads it now.

Who won the 2022 council election in Montacute?

In Montacute’s wards on 5 May 2022, Liberal Democrat 2 of the 2 seats up. The Liberal Democrats had the largest share of votes, 57.5%.

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.