Two councillors rejoined Labour on 13 July, ending the Independents Group. Committee seats are reallocated at Full Council on 9 September.

Bracknell Forest’s Labour group is back up to 20 councillors, exactly half the council, after two members who had been sitting as Independents rejoined it. The council has to redraw its committee seats as a result, and does so at Full Council on Wednesday 9 September.

The report to Council records that notification was received on 13 July 2026 that Councillors Bailey and Temperton had rejoined the Labour group. Because those two were the whole of the Independents Group, it “has ceased to exist as a political group for the purposes of the Council’s political balance and appointment arrangements”.

The council’s member index now lists both under Labour: Councillor Roy Bailey for Town Centre and The Parks, and Councillor Mary Temperton for Great Hollands. The Leader of the Council, Councillor Helen Purnell, is also Labour.

That leaves the 41-seat council looking like this:

Bracknell Forest Council composition after the July group change Labour holds 20 of the 41 seats, or 50 per cent. The Conservatives hold 10 seats, or 25 per cent. The Liberal Democrats hold 7, or 17.5 per cent. The Greens hold 3, or 7.5 per cent. One councillor is ungrouped. Twenty-one seats are needed for an overall majority. Labour holds exactly half the seats, one short of a majority Bracknell Forest Council composition after the 13 July change of group membership. 41 seats in total. Labour20 seats, 50% Conservative10 seats, 25% Liberal Democrat7 seats, 17.5% Green3 seats, 7.5% Ungrouped1 seat, no entitlement 21 seats: overall majority The Independents Group, which was Councillors Bailey and Temperton, no longer exists and has no committee entitlement. Source: Bracknell Forest Council, Review of Political Balance and Committee Appointments, 9 September 2026. Graphic by Bracknell Online
Percentages are the council's own figures. The single ungrouped councillor is recorded at 0 per cent proportionality, which is why an independent councillor is entitled to no committee seat.

What it means for you

Very little changes in what the council does, and nothing changes about bins, council tax or planning rules. What changes is who sits on the committees that decide things, and how safe the administration’s position is when a vote is close.

Labour is the largest group and runs the council, but 20 of 41 is not an overall majority: that needs 21. On the Planning Committee, the group that most affects residents directly, Labour is allocated 6 of the 12 seats. Half, not more.

The committee seats being redrawn

Under the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 the council has to review seat allocations whenever group membership changes, and hand each group a share that reflects its size. The proposed allocation across the four ordinary committees is 45 places in total.

Proposed allocation of ordinary committee seats, 9 September 2026
CommitteeSeatsLabConLib DemGreen
Appeals Committee115321
Appointment Committee53110
Employment Committee94221
Governance and Audit Committee84211
Planning Committee126321
Total45221184

Labour’s strict proportional entitlement across those 45 places is 22.25, so its 22 seats are marginally below what the arithmetic gives it. The Conservatives are entitled to 11.25 and get 11, the Liberal Democrats to 7.88 and get 8, the Greens to 3.38 and get 4.

Three other bodies are counted separately from that total, because they are not ordinary committees:

  • Licensing and Safety Committee, 15 seats: Labour 7, Conservative 4, Liberal Democrat 3, Green 1.
  • Overview and Scrutiny Commission, 12 seats: Labour 6, Conservative 3, Liberal Democrat 2, Green 1.
  • The three Overview and Scrutiny panels, 9 seats each: Labour 4, Conservative 2, Liberal Democrat 2, Green 1. The report says these appointments are unchanged by the review.

The single ungrouped councillor is recorded with a proportionality of 0 per cent. The Act allocates seats to political groups, and one councillor sitting alone is not a group.

The knock-on for substitutes

There is one further consequence of Labour passing 18 members. The council’s constitution sets the number of substitutes a group may appoint by its size: three for a group of fewer than 11, four for 11 to 17, and five for a group of 18 or more. Labour at 20 sits in the top band.

Councillor Bailey is named in the schedule of appointments as one of Labour’s six members of the Overview and Scrutiny Commission.

The report carries no financial implications. Committee costs, it says, are met from existing budgets.

Sources

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