Photo: Stephen McKay · CC BY-SA 2.0Reform UK holds a majority on Wakefield Metropolitan District Council
Pontefract is run by Wakefield Metropolitan District Council. Reform UK has a majority on Wakefield Metropolitan District Council. Its MP is Yvette Cooper (Labour), member for Pontefract, Castleford and Knottingley.
£2,259
Band D, a year, the middle band every council sets its tax from.
Where it goes →How Pontefract’s politics has changed since 2021
A majority on Wakefield Metropolitan District Council
Reform UK holds a majority on Wakefield Metropolitan District Council: 58 of its 63 seats as elected. The Liberal Democrats hold 2, the Greens 1, Labour 1 and the Conservatives 1. Who’s in charge ↓
Council tax
A Band D bill in Pontefract is £2,259 for 2026–27; Wakefield Metropolitan District Council keeps 84% of it. The council area’s Band D has risen 59% 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
Seats by party as elected. A party needs 32 of Wakefield’s 63 seats to run the council alone.
- Reform UK58
- Liberal Democrat2
- Conservative1
- Green1
- Labour1
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 Pontefract
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 Pontefract 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 Pontefract, from the most recent elections.
- 1Wakefield Metropolitan District Council2 wards · 6 councillorsJordan BedfordChristopher DawsonCraig SmithPhilip BoothKeith Christian AndersonMichael Thomas Livsey
- 2Mayor of West Yorkshire Combined AuthorityWest Yorkshire Combined Authority · elected May 2024Tracy Brabin
- 3House of CommonsPontefract, Castleford and Knottingley
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.
6 councillors for 2 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.
- Jordan BedfordReform UK · May 2026
- Christopher DawsonReform UK · May 2026
- Craig SmithReform UK · May 2026
- Philip BoothReform UK · May 2026
- Keith Christian AndersonReform UK · May 2026
- Michael Thomas LivseyReform UK · May 2026
Show as a table
| Ward | Seats | Elected | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pontefract Northall in Pontefract · 17,613 residents3 seats · May 2026 | 3 | Jordan BedfordChristopher DawsonCraig Smith | May 2026 |
| Pontefract Southmostly in Pontefract · 15,369 residents3 seats · May 2026 | 3 | Philip BoothKeith Christian AndersonMichael Thomas Livsey | May 2026 |
Councillors can resign, change party or sit as independents between elections; a by-election winner replaces someone not named here. Wakefield Metropolitan District 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).
Wakefield council election, May 2026
Results in the wards that make up Pontefract, as declared. Percentages are of votes cast for candidates in each ward; where a ward elects several councillors, each voter has that many votes.
2 wards voted. Every seat in the town’s wards was up.
No election is scheduled yet for Pontefract’s wards in Democracy Club’s list. Councils publish a notice of election about five weeks before polling day.
Who can I vote for? ↗12,142 votes for candidates · 3 seats, so 3 votes each
14,837 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.
Pontefract is in Pontefract, Castleford and Knottingley constituency
The constituency’s MP and the 4 July 2024 general election, the whole constituency’s result (it reaches beyond Pontefract).
35,957 votes for candidates · majority 6,630
Labour, MP since 1 May 1997.
turnout in July 2024: 35,957 votes from 74,618 registered voters. England: 60%.
Majority 6,630 of 35,957 votes (18.4%): wider than in 64% 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.
Pontefract’s Band D council tax is £2,259 a year
Where a Band D bill goes, what it has cost over the years, and what the councils plan to spend per resident.
Wakefield Metropolitan District Council keeps £1,891.63 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
Wakefield’s Band D bill has risen 59% in ten years, from £1,445.97 in 2016–17, against England’s average (56%). It was £648.00 in 1993–94.
Your bill by band
A Band D home in the unparished part of Wakefield, 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
| Wakefield | Pontefract’s councils | West Yorkshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adult social care | £461 | £435 | £487 |
| Children’s social care | £276 | £312 | £290 |
| Roads and transport | £37 | £25 | £41 |
| Housing (not council homes’ rents) | £38 | £42 | £61 |
| Bins, street cleaning, environment | £150 | £119 | £119 |
| Libraries, leisure, culture | £65 | £61 | £44 |
| Planning and development | £24 | £22 | £26 |
| Public health | £104 | £89 | £78 |
| Running the council | £89 | £64 | £59 |
| Other | £0 | £13 | £19 |
| Total, schools apart | £1,243 | £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 Pontefract 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.
wakefield.gov.uk ↗Anyone can comment while an application is open for consultation.
wakefield.gov.uk ↗The rules, nomination papers and guidance for council candidates.
Electoral Commission ↗Questions about how Pontefract is run
Does Pontefract have a town council?
No. Pontefract is unparished, so there is no town or parish council and no parish precept.
Who is the MP for Pontefract?
Yvette Cooper (Labour) is the MP for Pontefract, Castleford and Knottingley, which covers Pontefract.
How many councillors does Pontefract have?
6 ward councillors represent Pontefract’s 2 wards.
When are the next elections in Pontefract?
No election is scheduled yet in Democracy Club’s list for Pontefract’s wards. The next UK general election must be held by August 2029.
How much is council tax in Pontefract?
Band D council tax in Pontefract is £2,259 for 2026–27. Your bill depends on your home’s band, from A (6/9 of Band D) to H (18/9).
Who controls Wakefield Metropolitan District Council?
Reform UK has a majority: 58 of 63 seats as elected. The council’s website lists who leads it now.
Who won the 2026 council election in Pontefract?
In Pontefract’s wards on 7 May 2026, Reform UK 6 of the 6 seats up. Reform UK had the largest share of votes, 45.7%.
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.