Photo: Mtaylor848 · CC BY-SA 3.0No party holds a majority on Kirklees Council
Batley is run by Kirklees Council. No party holds a majority on Kirklees Council. Most of Batley is in Dewsbury and Batley (MP Iqbal Mohamed, Independent); 21% of residents are in Spen Valley (MP Kim Leadbeater, Labour).
£2,430
Band D, a year, the middle band every council sets its tax from.
Where it goes →How Batley’s politics has changed since 2021
No majority on Kirklees Council
Reform UK, the largest group, holds 28 of its 69 seats as elected, 7 short of the 35 needed. Independents hold 14, the Greens 12, the Conservatives 9 and the Liberal Democrats 6. Who’s in charge ↓
Council tax
A Band D bill in Batley is £2,430 for 2026–27; Kirklees Council keeps 85% of it. The council area’s Band D has risen 60% 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 35 of Kirklees’s 69 seats to run the council alone.
- Reform UK28
- Independent14
- Green12
- Conservative9
- Liberal Democrat6
Latest election: May 2026.
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 Batley
One council runs every main service here.
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: Tracy Brabin (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.
All of Batley is unparished: there is no parish or town council, so the council runs local matters itself and no parish precept is added to the bill.
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 council to Westminster
Every elected tier that speaks for Batley, from the most recent elections.
- 1Kirklees Council3 wards · 9 councillorsIndependent 6 · Conservative 2 · Reform UK 1 · all 9
- 2Mayor of West Yorkshire Combined AuthorityWest Yorkshire Combined Authority · elected May 2024Tracy Brabin
- 3House 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.
9 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.
- Akhtar KasiaIndependent · May 2026
- Aziz DajiIndependent · May 2026
- Habiban ZamanIndependent · May 2026
- Yusra HussainIndependent · May 2026
- Zahid KahutIndependent · May 2026
- Khuram AmjadIndependent · May 2026
- Joshua Connor SheardConservative · May 2026
- Philip Anthony JamesReform UK · May 2026
- Liz SmajeConservative · May 2026
Show as a table
| Ward | Seats | Elected | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| Batley Eastmostly in Batley · 17,059 residents3 seats · May 2026 | 3 | Akhtar KasiaAziz DajiHabiban Zaman | May 2026 |
| Batley Westmostly in Batley · 15,215 residents3 seats · May 2026 | 3 | Yusra HussainZahid KahutKhuram Amjad | May 2026 |
| Birstall & Birkenshawmostly in Batley · 11,135 residents3 seats · May 2026 | 3 | Joshua Connor SheardPhilip Anthony JamesLiz Smaje | May 2026 |
Councillors can resign, change party or sit as independents between elections; a by-election winner replaces someone not named here. Kirklees 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).
Kirklees council election, May 2026
Results in the wards that make up Batley, 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 Batley’s wards in Democracy Club’s list. Councils publish a notice of election about five weeks before polling day.
Who can I vote for? ↗14,525 votes for candidates · 3 seats, so 3 votes each
14,300 votes for candidates · 3 seats, so 3 votes each
17,558 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.
Batley is split between 2 constituencies
The constituencies’ MP and the 4 July 2024 general election, the whole constituency’s result.
Independent, MP since 4 July 2024
79% of Batley’s residents live in this constituency.
Turnout 53% (England 60%).
Majority 6,934 of 38,070 votes (18.2%): wider than in 62% of England’s 543 constituencies.
Labour, MP since 1 July 2021
21% of Batley’s residents live in this constituency.
Turnout 57% (England 60%).
Majority 6,188 of 41,058 votes (15.1%): wider than in 53% of England’s 543 constituencies.
38,070 votes for candidates · majority 6,934
Independent, MP since 4 July 2024.
turnout in July 2024: 38,070 votes from 71,685 registered voters. England: 60%.
Majority 6,934 of 38,070 votes (18.2%): wider than in 62% of England’s 543 constituencies.
Spen Valley
41,058 votes for candidates · majority 6,188
Labour, MP since 1 July 2021.
turnout in July 2024: 41,058 votes from 72,642 registered voters. England: 60%.
Majority 6,188 of 41,058 votes (15.1%): wider than in 53% of England’s 543 constituencies.
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.
Batley’s Band D council tax is £2,430 a year
Where a Band D bill goes, what it has cost over the years, and what the councils plan to spend per resident.
Kirklees Council keeps £2,062.42 of a Band D bill (85%); the rest goes to the West Yorkshire Combined Authority and the West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority.
Band D since 1993
Kirklees’s Band D bill has risen 60% in ten years, from £1,527.78 in 2016–17, against England’s average (56%). It was £628.88 in 1993–94.
Your bill by band
A Band D home in the unparished part of Kirklees, 2026–27, before discounts. The Valuation Office Agency’s band search gives any home’s band.
West Yorkshire’s councils
Average Band D in each council area, 2026–27, parish precepts included. Bars start at £2,100.
Council budgets per resident, 2026–27
Show as a table, with West Yorkshire
| Kirklees | Batley’s councils | West Yorkshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adult social care | £443 | £435 | £487 |
| Children’s social care | £217 | £312 | £290 |
| Roads and transport | £12 | £25 | £41 |
| Housing (not council homes’ rents) | £45 | £42 | £61 |
| Bins, street cleaning, environment | £102 | £119 | £119 |
| Libraries, leisure, culture | £44 | £61 | £44 |
| Planning and development | £12 | £22 | £26 |
| Public health | £78 | £89 | £78 |
| Running the council | £50 | £64 | £59 |
| Other | £23 | £13 | £19 |
| Total, schools apart | £1,026 | £1,182 | £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 Yorkshire 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 Batley 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.
kirklees.gov.uk ↗Anyone can comment while an application is open for consultation.
kirklees.gov.uk ↗The rules, nomination papers and guidance for council candidates.
Electoral Commission ↗Questions about how Batley is run
Does Batley have a town council?
No. Batley is unparished, so there is no town or parish council and no parish precept.
Who is the MP for Batley?
Batley is split between 2 constituencies: Dewsbury and Batley (Iqbal Mohamed, Independent) and Spen Valley (Kim Leadbeater, Labour). Parliament’s Find your MP service matches a postcode to its MP.
How many councillors does Batley have?
9 ward councillors represent Batley’s 3 wards.
When are the next elections in Batley?
No election is scheduled yet in Democracy Club’s list for Batley’s wards. The next UK general election must be held by August 2029.
How much is council tax in Batley?
Band D council tax in Batley is £2,430 for 2026–27. Your bill depends on your home’s band, from A (6/9 of Band D) to H (18/9).
Who controls Kirklees Council?
No party has a majority. As elected, Reform UK 28 · Independent 14 · Green 12 · Conservative 9 · Liberal Democrat 6 of 69 seats; a majority needs 35. The council’s website lists who leads it now.
Who won the 2026 council election in Batley?
In Batley’s wards on 7 May 2026, Independent 6 · Conservative 2 · Reform UK 1 of the 9 seats up. Reform UK had the largest share of votes, 26.5%.
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.