Photo: Mtaylor848 · CC BY-SA 4.0No party holds a majority on Leeds City Council
Garforth is run by Leeds City Council. No party holds a majority on Leeds City Council. Its MP is Richard Burgon (Labour), member for Leeds East.
£2,272
Band D, a year, the middle band every council sets its tax from.
Where it goes →How Garforth’s politics has changed since 2021
No majority on Leeds City Council
Labour, the largest group, holds 48 of its 99 seats as elected, 2 short of the 50 needed. The Conservatives hold 15, the Greens 12, Reform UK 9, the Liberal Democrats 6, Morley Borough Independents 3 and Social Democratic Party 3. Who’s in charge ↓
The 2026 vote
Across Garforth’s wards, Garforth and Swillington Independents Party took 62.4%, Reform UK took 19.7% and Labour took 6.8% of votes in May 2026. In 2024, Garforth and Swillington Independents Party had 54.3%. How Garforth has voted ↓
Council tax
A Band D bill in Garforth is £2,272 for 2026–27; Leeds City Council keeps 84% 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 50 of Leeds’s 99 seats to run the council alone.
- Labour48
- Conservative15
- Green12
- Reform UK9
- Liberal Democrat6
- Garforth and Swillington Independents Party3
- Morley Borough Independents3
- Social Democratic Party3
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 Garforth
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.
98% of Garforth 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 Garforth, from the most recent elections.
- 1Leeds City Council1 ward · 3 councillorsMark David DobsonSarah Jane FieldSuzanne McCormack
- 2Mayor of West Yorkshire Combined AuthorityWest Yorkshire Combined Authority · elected May 2024Tracy Brabin
- 3House of CommonsLeeds East
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.
- Mark David DobsonGarforth and Swillington Independents Party · May 2026
- Sarah Jane FieldGarforth and Swillington Independents Party · May 2024
- Suzanne McCormackGarforth and Swillington Independents Party · May 2023
Show as a table
| Ward | Seats | Elected | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| Garforth & Swillingtonmostly in Garforth · 15,148 residents3 seats · May 2026, May 2024, May 2023 | 3 | Mark David DobsonSarah Jane FieldSuzanne McCormack | May 2026, May 2024, May 2023 |
Councillors can resign, change party or sit as independents between elections; a by-election winner replaces someone not named here. Leeds City 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).
Garforth and Swillington Independents Party has led every council vote since 2021
Share of all votes cast for candidates in Garforth’s wards at each scheduled council election since 2021. A gap is a year with no election here.
Seats won at each election
Show as a table
| Party | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Green | 5.5% | 3.6% | 6.1% | 4.2% | 5.4% |
| Labour | 17.1% | 15.6% | 19.9% | 19.2% | 6.8% |
| Conservative | 27.3% | 16% | 14.4% | 12.2% | 4.5% |
| Reform UK | 0% | 0% | 0% | 5.3% | 19.7% |
| Garforth and Swillington Independents Party | 49.1% | 63.2% | 54.2% | 54.3% | 62.4% |
In 2026, Garforth and Swillington Independents Party won 1 of the 1 seats up in Garforth’s wards.
Results: Democracy Club (CC BY 4.0). Where a ward elects several councillors at once, each voter has that many votes; all of them count here.
Leeds council election, May 2026
Results in the wards that make up Garforth, 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. Leeds elects a third of its councillors at a time, so a third of the seats were up.
No election is scheduled yet for Garforth’s wards in Democracy Club’s list. Councils publish a notice of election about five weeks before polling day.
Who can I vote for? ↗8,018 votes for candidates
Candidates and results: Democracy Club (CC BY 4.0), from councils’ declared results; polling dates from Democracy Club’s EveryElection.
Garforth is in Leeds East constituency
The constituency’s MP and the 4 July 2024 general election, the whole constituency’s result (it reaches beyond Garforth).
39,388 votes for candidates · majority 11,265
Labour, MP since 7 May 2015.
turnout in July 2024: 39,388 votes from 76,207 registered voters. England: 60%.
Majority 11,265 of 39,388 votes (28.6%): wider than in 83% 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.
Garforth’s Band D council tax is £2,272 a year
Where a Band D bill goes, what it has cost over the years, and what the councils plan to spend per resident.
Leeds City Council keeps £1,903.74 of a Band D bill (84%); the rest goes to the West Yorkshire Combined Authority and the West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority.
Band D since 1993
Leeds’s Band D bill has risen 60% in ten years, from £1,428.80 in 2016–17, against England’s average (56%). It was £600.75 in 1993–94.
Your bill by band
A Band D home in the unparished part of Leeds, 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
| Leeds | Garforth’s councils | West Yorkshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adult social care | £435 | £435 | £487 |
| Children’s social care | £288 | £312 | £290 |
| Roads and transport | £30 | £25 | £41 |
| Housing (not council homes’ rents) | £44 | £42 | £61 |
| Bins, street cleaning, environment | £122 | £119 | £119 |
| Libraries, leisure, culture | £78 | £61 | £44 |
| Planning and development | £16 | £22 | £26 |
| Public health | £79 | £89 | £78 |
| Running the council | £55 | £64 | £59 |
| Other | £-37 | £13 | £19 |
| Total, schools apart | £1,111 | £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 Garforth 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.
leeds.gov.uk ↗Anyone can comment while an application is open for consultation.
leeds.gov.uk ↗The rules, nomination papers and guidance for council candidates.
Electoral Commission ↗Questions about how Garforth is run
Does Garforth have a town council?
No. Garforth is unparished, so there is no town or parish council and no parish precept.
Who is the MP for Garforth?
Richard Burgon (Labour) is the MP for Leeds East, which covers Garforth.
How many councillors does Garforth have?
3 ward councillors represent Garforth’s 1 ward.
When are the next elections in Garforth?
No election is scheduled yet in Democracy Club’s list for Garforth’s wards. The next UK general election must be held by August 2029.
How much is council tax in Garforth?
Band D council tax in Garforth is £2,272 for 2026–27. Your bill depends on your home’s band, from A (6/9 of Band D) to H (18/9).
Who controls Leeds City Council?
No party has a majority. As elected, Labour 48 · Conservative 15 · Green 12 · Reform UK 9 · Liberal Democrat 6 · Morley Borough Independents 3 · Social Democratic Party 3 · Garforth and Swillington Independents Party 3 of 99 seats; a majority needs 50. The council’s website lists who leads it now.
Who won the 2026 council election in Garforth?
In Garforth’s wards on 7 May 2026, Garforth and Swillington Independents Party 1 of the 1 seats up. Garforth and Swillington Independents Party had the largest share of votes, 62.4%.
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.