Photo: AtticTapestry · CC BY-SA 4.0Labour holds a majority on East Staffordshire Borough Council
Rocester is run by East Staffordshire Borough Council and Staffordshire County Council, with Rocester parish council for local matters. Labour has a majority on East Staffordshire Borough Council. Reform UK has a majority on Staffordshire County Council. Its MP is Jacob Collier (Labour), member for Burton and Uttoxeter.
£2,361
Band D, a year, the middle band every council sets its tax from.
Where it goes →How Rocester’s politics has changed since 2021
A majority on East Staffordshire Borough Council
Labour holds a majority on East Staffordshire Borough Council: 20 of its 37 seats as elected. The Conservatives hold 16, independents 1. Who’s in charge ↓
Staffordshire changed hands in 2025
Staffordshire County Council, which runs schools, social care and roads, went from a Conservative majority (56 of 62 seats in 2021) to a Reform UK majority at the May 2025 election: Reform UK won 48 of 62 seats. Staffordshire ↓
Council tax
A Band D bill in Rocester is £2,361 for 2026–27; East Staffordshire Borough Council keeps 9% of it. The council area’s Band D has risen 52% 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 Rocester’s councils
Seats by party as elected. A party needs 19 of East Staffordshire’s 37 or 32 of Staffordshire’s 62 seats to run the council alone.
- Labour20
- Conservative16
- Independent1
Latest election: May 2023.
- Reform UK48+48
- Conservative11−45
- Green1+1
- Labour1−4
- Stafford Borough Independents1+1
- Independent0−1
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
Rocester has two tiers of council: the county runs the big services, the district the local ones.
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 Rocester’s residents · Band D precept £54
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.
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 Rocester, from the most recent elections.
- 1Town or parishParish tierRocester parish council
- 2East Staffordshire Borough Council1 ward · 2 councillorsSteve SankeyLaura Beech
- 3Staffordshire County Council1 division · 1 councillorGary Robert Hales
- 4Police and crime commissionerStaffordshire Police · elected May 2024Ben Adams
- 5House of CommonsBurton and Uttoxeter
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.
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.
- Steve SankeyConservative · May 2023
- Laura BeechConservative · May 2023
Show as a table, with Staffordshire County Council’s 1 division (1 councillor)
| Ward | Seats | Elected | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stramshall & Weaver30% in Rocester · 1,679 residents2 seats · May 2023 | 2 | Steve SankeyLaura Beech | May 2023 |
Staffordshire County Council: county divisions
| Division | Seats | Elected | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| Uttoxeter Rural ED7% in Rocester · 1,679 residents1 seat · May 2025 | 1 | Gary Robert Hales | May 2025 |
Councillors can resign, change party or sit as independents between elections; a by-election winner replaces someone not named here. East Staffordshire 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).
East Staffordshire council election, May 2023
Results in the wards that make up Rocester, as declared. Percentages are of votes cast for candidates in each ward; where a ward elects several councillors, each voter has that many votes.
1 ward voted. Every seat in the town’s wards was up.
No election is scheduled yet for Rocester’s wards in Democracy Club’s list. Councils publish a notice of election about five weeks before polling day.
Who can I vote for? ↗2,944 votes for candidates · 2 seats, so 2 votes each
Candidates and results: Democracy Club (CC BY 4.0), from councils’ declared results; polling dates from Democracy Club’s EveryElection.
Rocester is in Burton and Uttoxeter constituency
The constituency’s MP and the 4 July 2024 general election, the whole constituency’s result (it reaches beyond Rocester).
45,627 votes for candidates · majority 2,266
Labour, MP since 4 July 2024.
turnout in July 2024: 45,627 votes from 77,994 registered voters. England: 60%.
Majority 2,266 of 45,627 votes (5%): the 97th-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.
Rocester’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.
East Staffordshire Borough Council keeps £221.80 of a Band D bill (9%); the rest goes to the Rocester parish council, Staffordshire County Council, the Staffordshire police and crime commissioner and the Staffordshire PCC-FRA.
Band D since 1993
East Staffordshire’s Band D bill has risen 52% in ten years, from £1,546.16 in 2016–17, against England’s average (56%). It was £520.88 in 1993–94.
Your bill by band
A Band D home in Rocester, 2026–27, before discounts. The Valuation Office Agency’s band search gives any home’s band.
Staffordshire’s councils
Average Band D in each council area, 2026–27, parish precepts included. Bars start at £2,000.
Council budgets per resident, 2026–27
Show as a table, with Staffordshire
| East Staffordshire + Staffordshire | Rocester’s councils | Staffordshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adult social care | £414 | £427 | £487 |
| Children’s social care | £272 | £322 | £290 |
| Roads and transport | £84 | £75 | £41 |
| Housing (not council homes’ rents) | £25 | £24 | £61 |
| Bins, street cleaning, environment | £121 | £106 | £119 |
| Libraries, leisure, culture | £36 | £37 | £44 |
| Planning and development | £18 | £22 | £26 |
| Public health | £56 | £71 | £78 |
| Running the council | £47 | £48 | £59 |
| Other | £0 | £10 | £19 |
| Total, schools apart | £1,073 | £1,142 | £1,234 |
Net budgeted service spending, MHCLG Revenue Account budget 2026–27, per resident (ONS mid-2025 estimates). Both tiers added: East Staffordshire per its residents plus Staffordshire 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. Staffordshire 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 Rocester 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.
eaststaffsbc.gov.uk ↗Anyone can comment while an application is open for consultation.
eaststaffsbc.gov.uk ↗The rules, nomination papers and guidance for council candidates.
Electoral Commission ↗Questions about how Rocester is run
Which council runs Rocester?
Rocester is run by East Staffordshire Borough Council and Staffordshire County Council. The county council runs schools, social care and roads; the district runs bins, planning and housing.
Does Rocester have a town council?
Yes: Rocester has its own parish-tier council (Rocester parish council; town councils are parish councils by another name), which adds £54 to a Band D bill in 2026–27.
Who is the MP for Rocester?
Jacob Collier (Labour) is the MP for Burton and Uttoxeter, which covers Rocester.
How many councillors does Rocester have?
2 ward councillors represent Rocester’s 1 ward, and 1 county councillors its county divisions.
When are the next elections in Rocester?
No election is scheduled yet in Democracy Club’s list for Rocester’s wards. The next UK general election must be held by August 2029.
How much is council tax in Rocester?
Band D council tax in Rocester is £2,361 for 2026–27. Your bill depends on your home’s band, from A (6/9 of Band D) to H (18/9).
Who controls East Staffordshire Borough Council?
Labour has a majority: 20 of 37 seats as elected. The council’s website lists who leads it now.
Who controls Staffordshire County Council?
Reform UK has a majority: 48 of 62 seats as elected.
Who won the 2023 council election in Rocester?
In Rocester’s wards on 4 May 2023, Conservative 2 of the 2 seats up. The Conservatives had the largest share of votes, 57.6%.
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.