The 2026 West Surrey Council election took place on 7 May 2026, electing members of the new West Surrey Council in Surrey, England. This was on the same day as other local elections.

This was the inaugural election to West Surrey Council, following its creation from the merger of Guildford, Runnymede, Spelthorne, Surrey Heath, Waverley, and Woking, along with the coterminus area of Surrey County Council following its confirmed abolition. The council will initially operate as a "shadow authority", with the transition to the council's full powers on 1 April 2027.

90 seats, from 45 two-member wards, were contested at the election, a sharp reduction in the number of councillors covering the West Surrey area (287 pre-reorganisation vs. 90 post-reorganisation, a reduction of 67%). The ward boundaries used were the revised Surrey County Council boundaries for the cancelled 2025 elections.

The Liberal Democrats won a majority at this election, taking 56 of the 90 seats. After the election, they chose Paul Follows, leader of Waverley Borough Council, to be their group leader. He was formally confirmed as leader of the shadow authority at its inaugural meeting in Guildford on 21 May 2026.

Background This election was the first to the planned authority of West Surrey Council, which will now operate as a "shadow" authority until 2027.

The Conservative Party won a majority of seats at the 2021 Surrey County Council election. Of the County Council seats in West Surrey, in 2021 the Conservatives won 25, the Liberal Democrats won 11, residents’ groups and independent candidates won 7, and the Labour Party won 2.

With two councillors being elected for West Surrey in 2026 in each of the equivalent 45 Surrey Council electoral wards (as revised by a recent local government boundary review), the 2021 totals should effectively be doubled for comparison’s sake. ie. in 2021 the Conservatives can be estimated to have won 50 seats in West Surrey, the LibDems 22, Residents and Independents 14, and Labour 4.

(The Liberal Democrats hold a majority in three of the six district councils that make up the area of the West Surrey unitary authority, with the other three councils currently being under no overall control. These six district authorities will be abolished on 1 April 2027). +2021 Surrey County Council Result in West Surrey DivisionsPartySeatsVotes%Conservative 25 77,184 42.2Liberal Democrats 11 47,059 25.7Residents 5 17,046 9.3Labour 2 21,859 11.9Independent 2 10,020 5.5Green 0 8,012 4.4Heritage 0 541 0.3UKIP 0 441 0.2Reform UK 0 291 0.2TUSC 0 255 0.1Peace Party 0 140 0.1Workers Party 0 86 0.1Total45182,934

Opinion polling

Pollster Date(s)conducted Samplesize Con Lab Lib Dem Green Reform Ind/Other Lead2025 election–24.90%3.09%35.68%8.63%20.62%3.14% 11JL Partners (MRP)31 March – 13 April 20264,089 (England)24.0%6.6%32.1%8.3%25.1%3.9% 7

Results overview

Party Councillors Votes Candidates Elected % Change % Liberal Democrats905662.2% 34155,50035.92% Conservative Party902022.2% 30108,51925.07% Reform UK90910.0% 989,86620.76% Farnham Residents 6 2 2.2% 4 8,4701.96% Independent 22 1 1.1% 3 13,684 3.16% R4GV 2 1 1.1% 3 3,221 0.74% RIRG 2 1 1.1% 1 2,061 0.48% Green Party 78 0 0% 37,611 8.69% Labour Party 65 0 0% 4 13,466 3.11% Heritage Party 3 0 0% 236 0.05% Peace Party 1 0 0% 100 0.02% TUSC 3 0 0% 90 0.02% Monster Raving Loony Party 1 0 0% 87 0.02%

The Liberal Democrats secured a comfortable overall majority on the new council. The Liberal Democrats came out of the election with a majority of 36 seats over the second-placed Conservatives, and of 22 seats over all the other parties on the council (including Residents/Independents) combined.

The Liberal Democrats won 56 seats, the Conservatives won 20 seats, Reform won 9 seats, Residents' Groups won 4 seats and 1 independent candidate was elected. No Labour Party or Green Party candidates won a seat.

After the election, the Liberal Democrats formed a majority administration and elected Cllr Paul Follows as Leader of their Group and as the Leader of the new Council. The Conservative Group became the official opposition on the Council and chose Cllr Jane Austin (concurrently the Leader of the Opposition on Waverley Borough Council) to be their Leader.

Results by ward

Guildford

Runnymede

Spelthorne

Surrey Heath

Richard Wilson is a sitting parish and borough councillor, Valerie White is a sitting parish councillor.

Trefor Hogg is a sitting county councillor, Shaun Garrett is a sitting borough councillor.

Alan Ashbery is a sitting county and borough councillor, Sarbie Kang is a sitting borough councillor.

Paul Deach is a sitting County Councillor, Jacques Olmo is a sitting borough councillor, Morgan Rise is a sitting borough councillor.

Rob Lee, Dr Nirmal Kang and John Skipper are sitting borough councillors.

Julie Hoad and Shaun Macdonald are sitting borough councillors. Rebecca Jennings-Evans is a sitting County and Parish councillor. Tony Henderson, Graham Alleway and Adrian Page are sitting Parish councillors.

Waverley

Woking

Notes

References

See also

2026 East Surrey Council election Surrey County Council elections