Photo: Jon Farman · Public domainNo party holds a majority on the City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council
Thornton is run by the City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council. No party holds a majority on the City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council. Its MP is Naz Shah (Labour), member for Bradford West.
£2,333
Band D, a year, the middle band every council sets its tax from.
Where it goes →How Thornton’s politics has changed since 2021
No majority on the City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council
Reform UK, the largest group, holds 28 of its 90 seats as elected, 18 short of the 46 needed. The Conservatives hold 18, Labour 17, the Greens 9, Your Bradford Independent group 9, the Liberal Democrats 4 and independents 4. Who’s in charge ↓
Council tax
A Band D bill in Thornton is £2,333 for 2026–27; the City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council keeps 84% of it. The council area’s Band D has risen 67% 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 46 of Bradford’s 90 seats to run the council alone.
- Reform UK28
- Conservative18
- Labour17
- Green9
- Your Bradford Independent group9
- Independent4
- Liberal Democrat4
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 Thornton
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 Thornton 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 Thornton, from the most recent elections.
- 1City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council1 ward · 3 councillorsLester Graham MartinMelanie Jane MilnesJohn Sharples
- 2Mayor of West Yorkshire Combined AuthorityWest Yorkshire Combined Authority · elected May 2024Tracy Brabin
- 3House of CommonsBradford West
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.
- Lester Graham MartinReform UK · May 2026
- Melanie Jane MilnesReform UK · May 2026
- John SharplesReform UK · May 2026
Show as a table
| Ward | Seats | Elected | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thornton & Allerton29% in Thornton · 5,410 residents3 seats · May 2026 | 3 | Lester Graham MartinMelanie Jane MilnesJohn Sharples | May 2026 |
Councillors can resign, change party or sit as independents between elections; a by-election winner replaces someone not named here. City of Bradford 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).
Bradford council election, May 2026
Results in the wards that make up Thornton, 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 Thornton’s wards in Democracy Club’s list. Councils publish a notice of election about five weeks before polling day.
Who can I vote for? ↗13,869 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.
Thornton is in Bradford West constituency
The constituency’s MP and the 4 July 2024 general election, the whole constituency’s result (it reaches beyond Thornton).
37,081 votes for candidates · majority 707
Labour, MP since 7 May 2015.
turnout in July 2024: 37,081 votes from 77,897 registered voters. England: 60%.
Majority 707 of 37,081 votes (1.9%): the 39th-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.
Thornton’s Band D council tax is £2,333 a year
Where a Band D bill goes, what it has cost over the years, and what the councils plan to spend per resident.
City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council keeps £1,965.28 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
Bradford’s Band D bill has risen 67% in ten years, from £1,414.28 in 2016–17, against England’s average (56%). It was £517.50 in 1993–94.
Your bill by band
A Band D home in the unparished part of Bradford, 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
| Bradford | Thornton’s councils | West Yorkshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adult social care | £386 | £435 | £487 |
| Children’s social care | £450 | £312 | £290 |
| Roads and transport | £15 | £25 | £41 |
| Housing (not council homes’ rents) | £45 | £42 | £61 |
| Bins, street cleaning, environment | £103 | £119 | £119 |
| Libraries, leisure, culture | £40 | £61 | £44 |
| Planning and development | £35 | £22 | £26 |
| Public health | £106 | £89 | £78 |
| Running the council | £73 | £64 | £59 |
| Other | £94 | £13 | £19 |
| Total, schools apart | £1,347 | £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 Thornton 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.
bradford.gov.uk ↗Anyone can comment while an application is open for consultation.
bradford.gov.uk ↗The rules, nomination papers and guidance for council candidates.
Electoral Commission ↗Questions about how Thornton is run
Does Thornton have a town council?
No. Thornton is unparished, so there is no town or parish council and no parish precept.
Who is the MP for Thornton?
Naz Shah (Labour) is the MP for Bradford West, which covers Thornton.
How many councillors does Thornton have?
3 ward councillors represent Thornton’s 1 ward.
When are the next elections in Thornton?
No election is scheduled yet in Democracy Club’s list for Thornton’s wards. The next UK general election must be held by August 2029.
How much is council tax in Thornton?
Band D council tax in Thornton is £2,333 for 2026–27. Your bill depends on your home’s band, from A (6/9 of Band D) to H (18/9).
Who controls the City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council?
No party has a majority. As elected, Reform UK 28 · Conservative 18 · Labour 17 · Green 9 · Your Bradford Independent group 9 · Liberal Democrat 4 · Independent 4 of 90 seats; a majority needs 46. The council’s website lists who leads it now.
Who won the 2026 council election in Thornton?
In Thornton’s wards on 7 May 2026, Reform UK 3 of the 3 seats up. Reform UK had the largest share of votes, 33.6%.
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.