Wokingham.
Liberal Democrats-controlled unitary. £184m net revenue. 18 wards across 2 parliamentary constituencies.
3 Jun 2026
Liberal Democrats chamber, 2-party MP geography.
Wokingham is a unitary controlled by Liberal Democrats (17 of 35 seats). Net revenue is £184m for 2025-26. It covers 18 wards spanning 2 parliamentary constituencies. The MP geography crosses 2 parties — a heterogeneous setup.
Who sits in the chamber.
Liberal Democrats 49% · last contested 7 May 2026
Councillors — the people.
| Councillor | Ward | Elected | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mohima Bose | LD | Barkham & Arborfield | 2026 |
| Adrian John Betteridge | LD | Barkham & Arborfield | 2024 |
| Joseph Michael Barley | Con | Barkham & Arborfield | 2024 |
| Yusra Salman | Con | Bulmershe & Coronation | 2026 |
| Alison Swaddle | Con | Bulmershe & Coronation | 2024 |
| Shahid Mohammed Younis | Con | Bulmershe & Coronation | 2024 |
| Basit Sajjad Alvi | LD | Emmbrook | 2026 |
| Richa Singh | LD | Evendons | 2026 |
| Peter Harper | Con | Finchampstead | 2026 |
| Charles Margetts | Con | Finchampstead | 2024 |
| Rebecca Jane Margetts | Con | Finchampstead | 2024 |
| Melanie Cheryl De Jong | LD | Hawkedon | 2026 |
Where revenue comes from.
This is a high-council-tax unitary authoritie: 82% of revenue from council tax, above the cohort median (59%).
Source · MHCLG — Final LGFS 2025-26 Core Spending Power table · derived (CT exact; grants/rates split from SFA baseline)
Band-D bill.
| Council slice | £1,931 |
| County / upper-tier | £0 |
| Police | £283 |
| Fire & rescue | £86 |
| GLA precept | £0 |
| Parish average | £75 |
| Total Band-D | £2,376 |
Parish precepts apply on top, vary by parish
Use the income slider on My place to see income tax, NI, VAT and council tax against your earnings.
How does Wokingham split its revenue across services, compared with peer unitary authoritie-class councils? Each row is one of the ten standard service buckets. The vertical line at the centre is the cohort median share; the coloured square is where this council sits. Squares to the right of centre mean a bigger share of revenue than the median peer; to the left, a smaller share.
The subtitle on each row (“X% of net spend”) is what share of this council’s revenue goes to that service. The rank (“15 of 61”) is where this council sits within the cohort, sorted by that share descending. The delta (“+26% vs median”) is a relative reading: the council allocates 26% more of its revenue to that service than the median peer would. A small absolute difference can still be a big relative one.
Higher share doesn’t mean waste — it can reflect demographic need (more older residents), rurality, or a policy choice (e.g. keeping a service in-house). Lower share doesn’t mean efficiency — some councils move costs to fees, ringfenced accounts, or grants. £-per-head would be sharper than share-of-revenue; LAD population is pending ingest. Comparisons are within the same council type only.
Every invoice over £500, published under the Local Government Transparency Code. Best-effort, not statutory — counts and totals net negatives (refunds/reversals).
Top by total — last 180 days
| Supplier | Paid | Share | Pmts |
|---|---|---|---|
| PUBLIC WORKS LOANS ACCOUNT | £5.12m | 15.9% | 1 |
| BALFOUR BEATTY GROUP LTD | £3.01m | 9.3% | 1 |
| OPTALIS LIMITED | £2.49m | 7.7% | 48 |
| VOLKER HIGHWAYS LTD | £1.54m | 4.8% | 2 |
| WATES RESIDENTIAL CONSTRUCTION LIMITED | £1.10m | 3.4% | 2 |
| READING BOROUGH COUNCIL | £0.90m | 2.8% | 21 |
| MATRIX SCM LTD | £0.84m | 2.6% | 4 |
| ADDINGTON SCHOOL (ASCENDANCY PARTNERSHIP TRUST) | £0.70m | 2.2% | 262 |
| ACORN CARE AND EDUCATION LTD | £0.58m | 1.8% | 98 |
| CONTRACT TRADING SERVICES LTD | £0.55m | 1.7% | 3 |
By service area · top supplier
| Service | Top supplier | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Corporate And Central | PUBLIC WORKS LOANS ACCOUNT | £5.12m |
| Planning And Economic | BALFOUR BEATTY GROUP LTD | £3.01m |
| Adult Social Care | OPTALIS LIMITED | £2.49m |
| Childrens Services | ADDINGTON SCHOOL (ASCENDANCY PARTNERSHIP TRUST) | £0.70m |
Wokingham’s territory crosses 2 Westminster constituencies, with 2 MP parties represented. The middle column shows how much of the council each seat carries.
| Constituency | Wards | % of council | Current MP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wokingham | 11 | 61% | Clive Jones | LD |
| Earley and Woodley | 7 | 39% | Yuan Yang | Lab |
This council holds 1 Ind and 1 Ind MPs. That’s an unusually heterogeneous geography for a Liberal Democrats-controlled unitary — most weeks one MP is asking the council for something and another is praising it.
Sources, methods & last update
DCLEAPIL v1.0 (historic)
Core Spending Power table · 2025-26
vs 62 other unitary authorities
Police, Fire, Parish on top
4,480 payments · 3 Dec 2025 – 31 Dec 2025
2023 boundaries
Pending ingest at LAD level