Photo: David Martin · CC BY-SA 2.0No party holds a majority on Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council
Dickens Heath is run by Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council, with Dickens Heath parish council for local matters. No party holds a majority on Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council. Its MP is Dr Neil Shastri-Hurst (Conservative), member for Solihull West and Shirley.
£2,218
Band D, a year, the middle band every council sets its tax from.
Where it goes →How Dickens Heath’s politics has changed since 2021
No majority on Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council
The Conservatives, the largest group, hold 24 of its 51 seats as elected, 2 short of the 26 needed (it held 30 before the May 2026 election). Reform UK holds 17, the Liberal Democrats 6 and the Greens 4. Who’s in charge ↓
Council tax
A Band D bill in Dickens Heath is £2,218 for 2026–27; Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council keeps 83% of it. The council area’s Band D has risen 58% 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.
No party has a majority
Seats by party as elected. A party needs 26 of Solihull’s 51 seats to run the council alone.
- Conservative24−6
- Reform UK17+17
- Liberal Democrat6−2
- Green4−7
- Independent0−1
- Labour0−1
Change against the council before the 7 May 2026 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.
The councils that run Dickens Heath
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 Dickens Heath’s residents · Band D precept £45
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: Richard Parker (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 Dickens Heath, from the most recent elections.
- 1Town or parishParish tierDickens Heath parish council
- 2Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council1 ward · 3 councillorsKeith GreenRichard James HoltSimon Gregory Coles
- 3Mayor of West Midlands Combined AuthorityWest Midlands Combined Authority · elected May 2024Richard Parker
- 4Police and crime commissionerWest Midlands Police · elected May 2024Simon John Foster
- 5House of CommonsSolihull West and Shirley
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 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.
- Keith GreenConservative · May 2026
- Richard James HoltConservative · May 2026
- Simon Gregory ColesConservative · May 2026
Show as a table
| Ward | Seats | Elected | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blythe47% in Dickens Heath · 4,797 residents3 seats · May 2026 | 3 | Keith GreenRichard James HoltSimon Gregory Coles | May 2026 |
Councillors can resign, change party or sit as independents between elections; a by-election winner replaces someone not named here. Solihull Metropolitan 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).
Solihull council election, May 2026
Results in the wards that make up Dickens Heath, 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 Dickens Heath’s wards in Democracy Club’s list. Councils publish a notice of election about five weeks before polling day.
Who can I vote for? ↗10,527 votes for candidates · 3 seats, so 3 votes each
Candidates and results: Democracy Club (CC BY 4.0), from councils’ declared results; polling dates from Democracy Club’s EveryElection.
Dickens Heath is in Solihull West and Shirley constituency
The constituency’s MP and the 4 July 2024 general election, the whole constituency’s result (it reaches beyond Dickens Heath).
46,877 votes for candidates · majority 4,620
Conservative, MP since 4 July 2024.
turnout in July 2024: 46,877 votes from 71,816 registered voters. England: 60%.
Majority 4,620 of 46,877 votes (9.9%): the 185th-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.
Dickens Heath’s Band D council tax is £2,218 a year
Where a Band D bill goes, what it has cost over the years, and what the councils plan to spend per resident.
Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council keeps £1,843.27 of a Band D bill (83%); the rest goes to the Dickens Heath parish council, the West Midlands police and crime commissioner and the West Midlands Fire and Rescue Authority.
Band D since 1993
Solihull’s Band D bill has risen 58% in ten years, from £1,392.56 in 2016–17, against England’s average (56%). It was £519.75 in 1993–94.
Your bill by band
A Band D home in Dickens Heath, 2026–27, before discounts. The Valuation Office Agency’s band search gives any home’s band.
West Midlands’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 West Midlands
| Solihull | Dickens Heath’s councils | West Midlands | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adult social care | £489 | £502 | £487 |
| Children’s social care | £349 | £351 | £290 |
| Roads and transport | £49 | £92 | £41 |
| Housing (not council homes’ rents) | £30 | £59 | £61 |
| Bins, street cleaning, environment | £101 | £111 | £119 |
| Libraries, leisure, culture | £19 | £46 | £44 |
| Planning and development | £1 | £16 | £26 |
| Public health | £76 | £106 | £78 |
| Running the council | £37 | £41 | £59 |
| Other | £0 | £25 | £19 |
| Total, schools apart | £1,151 | £1,349 | £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. West Midlands 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 Dickens Heath 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.
solihull.gov.uk ↗Anyone can comment while an application is open for consultation.
solihull.gov.uk ↗The rules, nomination papers and guidance for council candidates.
Electoral Commission ↗Questions about how Dickens Heath is run
Which council runs Dickens Heath?
Dickens Heath is run by Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council.
Does Dickens Heath have a town council?
Yes: Dickens Heath has its own parish-tier council (Dickens Heath parish council; town councils are parish councils by another name), which adds £45 to a Band D bill in 2026–27.
Who is the MP for Dickens Heath?
Dr Neil Shastri-Hurst (Conservative) is the MP for Solihull West and Shirley, which covers Dickens Heath.
How many councillors does Dickens Heath have?
3 ward councillors represent Dickens Heath’s 1 ward.
When are the next elections in Dickens Heath?
No election is scheduled yet in Democracy Club’s list for Dickens Heath’s wards. The next UK general election must be held by August 2029.
How much is council tax in Dickens Heath?
Band D council tax in Dickens Heath is £2,218 for 2026–27. Your bill depends on your home’s band, from A (6/9 of Band D) to H (18/9).
Who controls Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council?
No party has a majority. As elected, Conservative 24 · Reform UK 17 · Liberal Democrat 6 · Green 4 of 51 seats; a majority needs 26. The council’s website lists who leads it now.
Who won the 2026 council election in Dickens Heath?
In Dickens Heath’s wards on 7 May 2026, Conservative 3 of the 3 seats up. The Conservatives had the largest share of votes, 44.4%.
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.