Photo: Betty Longbottom · CC BY-SA 2.0No party holds a majority on Kirklees Council
Upperthong is run by Kirklees Council, with Holme Valley parish council for local matters. No party holds a majority on Kirklees Council. Its MP is Paul Davies (Labour), member for Colne Valley.
£2,471
Band D, a year, the middle band every council sets its tax from.
Where it goes →How Upperthong’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 Upperthong is £2,471 for 2026–27; Kirklees Council keeps 83% 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 Upperthong
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 Upperthong’s residents · Band D precept £41
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.
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 Upperthong, from the most recent elections.
- 1Town or parishParish tierHolme Valley parish council
- 2Kirklees Council1 ward · 3 councillorsDavid George BirchDamian Craig BrookRobert Francis Butler
- 3Mayor of West Yorkshire Combined AuthorityWest Yorkshire Combined Authority · elected May 2024Tracy Brabin
- 4House of CommonsColne Valley
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.
- David George BirchReform UK · May 2026
- Damian Craig BrookConservative · May 2026
- Robert Francis ButlerReform UK · May 2026
Show as a table
| Ward | Seats | Elected | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| Holme Valley South6% in Upperthong · 1,094 residents3 seats · May 2026 | 3 | David George BirchDamian Craig BrookRobert Francis Butler | 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 Upperthong, 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 Upperthong’s wards in Democracy Club’s list. Councils publish a notice of election about five weeks before polling day.
Who can I vote for? ↗23,599 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.
Upperthong is in Colne Valley constituency
The constituency’s MP and the 4 July 2024 general election, the whole constituency’s result (it reaches beyond Upperthong).
46,221 votes for candidates · majority 4,963
Labour, MP since 4 July 2024.
turnout in July 2024: 46,221 votes from 72,638 registered voters. England: 60%.
Majority 4,963 of 46,221 votes (10.7%): the 204th-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.
Upperthong’s Band D council tax is £2,471 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 (83%); the rest goes to the Holme Valley parish council, 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 Holme Valley, 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 | Upperthong’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 Upperthong 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 Upperthong is run
Which council runs Upperthong?
Upperthong is run by Kirklees Council.
Does Upperthong have a town council?
Yes: Upperthong has its own parish-tier council (Holme Valley parish council; town councils are parish councils by another name), which adds £41 to a Band D bill in 2026–27.
Who is the MP for Upperthong?
Paul Davies (Labour) is the MP for Colne Valley, which covers Upperthong.
How many councillors does Upperthong have?
3 ward councillors represent Upperthong’s 1 ward.
When are the next elections in Upperthong?
No election is scheduled yet in Democracy Club’s list for Upperthong’s wards. The next UK general election must be held by August 2029.
How much is council tax in Upperthong?
Band D council tax in Upperthong is £2,471 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 Upperthong?
In Upperthong’s wards on 7 May 2026, Reform UK 2 · Conservative 1 of the 3 seats up. Reform UK had the largest share of votes, 28.1%.
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.