Guildford Borough Council in Surrey, England was elected every four years. The council is due to be abolished on 1 April 2027 following structural changes to local government in Surrey.
Council elections
+ Composition of the councilYearConservativeLiberal DemocratsLabourGreenR4GVGGGIndependents& OthersCouncil controlafter electionLocal government reorganisation; council established (42 seats)197327582New ward boundaries (45 seats)19763526021979343602198331760119872910600199119196011995132360319991720602New ward boundaries (48 seats)200326192012007262200020113412200201535910302019917211540New ward boundaries (48 seats)2023102530730
Visual representation
1973
+ 1973 ElectionTwentieth Century Local Election Results Vol 5 Guildford Borough Council compiled by Roger Ottewill, published by University of PlymouthParty Seats Conservative29 Labour6 Liberal5 Independent2
Number of councillors per ward is shown in brackets after the ward name.
Wards won by the Conservatives – Artington, Compton, Puttenham, Seale and Tongham, Shackleford and Wanborough (2); Ash (5); Effingham (1); Merrow and Burpham (5); Normandy (1); Onslow (3); Pirbright (1); Ripley, Wisley and Ockham (1); Send (2); Shalford (1); Stoughton (2); Worplesdon (2)
Wards won by Labour – Stoke (3); Westborough (3)
Ward won by the Liberals – Friary and St Nicolas (3)
Ward won by Independents – Aldbury, Shere and St Martha's (2)
Wards electing councillors of more than one party – East Clandon, West Clandon, East Horsley and West Horsley (3 – 2 Con; 1 Lib); Holy Trinity (2 – 1 Con, 1 Lib)
This was the first election of councillors for the new Guildford Borough Council formed as a successor to the Guildford Municipal Borough Council (the town council) and the Guildford Rural District Council.
There was a partial redrawing of ward boundaries and alteration of numbers of councillors elected per ward in the run up to the 1973 elections in Guildford. One example was Friary and St Nicolas which had been separate wards in the old Guildford Municipal Borough Council in 1972 but which were merged to form a new joint Friary and St Nicolas ward in time for these 1973 elections. A further redrawing of Guildford ward boundaries would occur in time for the next full council election in 1976.
1976
+ 1976 ElectionSurrey Advertiser May 1976Party Seats Conservative35 Labour6 Liberal2 Independent2
Number of councillors per ward is shown in brackets after the ward name.
Wards won by the Conservatives – Ash (3); Ash Vale (2); Christchurch (2); Clandon and Horsley (3); Effingham (1); Lovelace (1); Merrow and Burpham (3); Normandy (1); Pilgrims (2); Pirbright (1); Onslow (3); Send (2); Shalford (1); Stoughton (3); Worplesdon (3)
Wards won by Labour – Stoke (3); Westborough (3)
Ward won by Independent Conservative – Tongham (1)
Wards electing councillors of more than one party – Friary and St Nicolas (3 – 2 Con, 1 Lib); Holy Trinity (2 – 1 Con, 1 Lib); Tillingbourne (2 – 1 Con, 1 Ind)
Guildford ward boundaries were redrawn in time for the 1976 council elections.The Borough of Guildford (Electoral Arrangements) Order 1975 Changes included:
• Ash ward was split into two wards Ash plus Ash Vale;
• a new ward, Christchurch, was created from part of Stoke ward and part of Merrow and Burpham ward;
• Artington, Compton, Puttenham, Seale and Tongham, Shackleford and Wanborough ward was split into two wards Tongham plus Pilgrims;
• Aldbury, Shere and St Martha's ward was renamed Tillingbourne;
• East Clandon, West Clandon, East Horsley and West Horsley ward was renamed Clandon and Horsley; and
• Ripley, Wisley and Ockham ward was renamed Lovelace.
Both Pirbright and Lovelace wards had only one candidate who stood at the 1976 council elections. The respective candidate standing in each of these two wards was thus returned without the need for a vote.
1979
+ 1979 ElectionSurrey Advertiser May 1979Party Seats Conservative34 Labour6 Liberal3 Independent2
Number of councillors per ward is shown in brackets after the ward name.
Wards won by the Conservatives – Ash (3); Ash Vale (2); Christchurch (2); Clandon and Horsley (3); Effingham (1); Holy Trinity (2); Merrow and Burpham (3); Normandy (1); Pilgrims (2); Pirbright (1); Onslow (3); Send (2); Shalford (1); Tongham (1); Worplesdon (3)
Wards won by Labour – Stoke (3); Westborough (3)
Ward won by Independent – Lovelace (1)
Wards electing councillors of more than one party – Friary and St Nicolas (3 – 2 Con, 1 Lib); Stoughton (3 – 1 Con, 2 Lib); Tillingbourne (2 – 1 Con, 1 Ind)
These 1979 council elections coincided with the general election resulting in a turnout of 74.8%. This contrasts with the turnout of 40–50% which occurred in every other full Guildford Borough Council election between 1973 and 1995.Local Elections in Britain A Statistical Digest edited by Colin Rallings and Michael Thrasher
Send ward had only two candidates for the two council positions up for election in 1979. These two candidates were consequently returned without the need for a vote. This is the last time, to date (2015), that any ward in a full Guildford Borough Council election has returned councillors unopposed.
In 1979 Labour finished second in number of councillors and in percentage vote. In Guildford Borough Council elections following the 1979 one, Labour has, to date (2015), never again finished in the top two in either number of councillors or percentage vote.
1983
+ 1983 ElectionSurrey Advertiser 13 May 1983Party Seats Conservative31 Labour6 SDP-Liberal Alliance7 Independent1
Number of councillors per ward is shown in brackets after the ward name.
Wards won by the Conservatives – Ash (3); Ash Vale (2); Christchurch (2); Clandon and Horsley (3); Effingham (1); Lovelace (1); Holy Trinity (2); Merrow and Burpham (3); Normandy (1); Pilgrims (2); Pirbright (1); Send (2); Shalford (1); Tongham (1); Worplesdon (3)
Wards won by Labour – Stoke (3); Westborough (3)
Ward won by SDP-Liberal Alliance – Friary and St Nicolas (3)
Wards electing councillors of more than one party – Onslow (3 – 1 Con, 2 Alliance); Stoughton (3 – 1 Con, 2 Alliance); Tillingbourne (2 – 1 Con, 1 Ind)
The SDP was formed in 1981. The 1983 elections were the first full Guildford Borough Council elections fought by the new SDP-Liberal Alliance.
The 1983 elections saw every ward in Guildford contested by at least one Conservative candidate and at least one Labour candidate. The SDP-Liberal Alliance contested every ward in Guildford bar two Normandy and Tongham.
1987
+ 1987 ElectionSurrey Advertiser 15 May 1987 Party Seats Conservative30 Labour6 SDP-Liberal Alliance9 Independent0
Number of councillors per ward is shown in brackets after the ward name.
Wards won by the Conservatives – Ash (3); Ash Vale (2); Christchurch (2); Clandon and Horsley (3); Effingham (1); Lovelace (1); Holy Trinity (2); Merrow and Burpham (3); Pilgrims (2); Pirbright (1); Send (2); Shalford (1); Tillingbourne (2); Tongham (1); Worplesdon (3)
Wards won by Labour – Stoke (3); Westborough (3)
Wards won by SDP-Liberal Alliance – Friary and St Nicolas (3); Normandy (1); Stoughton (3)
Ward electing councillors of more than one party – Onslow (3 – 1 Con, 2 Alliance)
In 1987, the Conservatives won their fifth successive Guildford Borough Council election.
1987 marked the low point for independents contesting Guildford Borough Council elections. There was only one independent candidate in any ward in Guildford. He stood in Worplesdon and finished in seventh place out of the ten candidates up for election in that ward; the top three getting elected.
Conservatives contested every ward in Guildford in this election. Labour contested every ward bar Shalford and the SDP-Liberal Alliance contested every ward except Tillingbourne.
Borough boundary changes took place but the number of seats remained the same.legislation.gov.uk - The Surrey (District Boundaries) Order 1986. Retrieved on 6 November 2015.
1991
+ 1991 ElectionSurrey Advertiser 10 May 1991Party Seats Conservative19 Labour6 Liberal Democrats19 Independent1
Number of councillors per ward is shown in brackets after the ward name.
Wards won by the Conservatives – Clandon and Horsley (3); Effingham (1); Lovelace (1); Merrow and Burpham (3); Pilgrims (2); Pirbright (1); Send (2); Shalford (1); Worplesdon (3)
Wards won by Labour – Stoke (3); Westborough (3)
Wards won by Liberal Democrats – Ash (3); Ash Vale (2); Friary and St Nicolas (3); Holy Trinity (2); Normandy (1); Onslow (3); Stoughton (3); Tongham (1)
Wards electing councillors of more than one party – Christchurch (2 – 1 Con, 1 LibD); Tillingbourne (2 – 1 Con, 1 Ind)
Between the 1987 and 1991 council elections the Liberals and SDP had merged. The new party was initially called the Social and Liberal Democrat Party, but was renamed the Liberal Democrat Party in the second half of 1989.
The 1991 council elections saw the Conservatives lose control of Guildford Borough Council for the first time since it was created in the early 1970s. Conservatives and Liberal Democrats ended up tied on 19 councillors each.
Each ward was contested by at least one Conservative and one Liberal Democrat candidate. Labour contested every ward bar two Lovelace and Pirbright. Ten wards, the eight town wards plus Shalford and Worplesdon, were contested by "All Night" candidates.
An independent was returned to the council representing Tillingbourne. At every full council election between 1973 and 2003, except 1987, Tillingbourne (and its predecessor Aldbury, Shere and St Martha's) returned at least one independent councillor. In 1987 no independent candidate had contested the election in Tillingbourne.
1995
+ 1995 ElectionSurrey Advertiser 12 May 1995Party Seats Conservative13 Labour6 Liberal Democrats23 Independent3
Number of councillors per ward is shown in brackets after the ward name.
Wards won by the Conservatives – Clandon and Horsley (3); Effingham (1); Lovelace (1); Pilgrims (2); Pirbright (1); Send (2); Shalford (1)
Wards won by Labour – Stoke (3); Westborough (3)
Wards won by Liberal Democrats – Friary and St Nicolas (3); Holy Trinity (2); Merrow and Burpham (3); Normandy (1); Onslow (3); Stoughton (3); Tongham (1); Worplesdon (3)
Ward won by Putting Ash Vale First – Ash Vale (2)
Wards electing councillors of more than one party – Ash (3 – 1 Con, 2 LibD); Christchurch (2 – 1 Con, 1 LibD); Tillingbourne (2 – 1 LibD, 1 Ind)
To date (2015), 1995 was the Conservatives worst ever electoral performance on Guildford Borough Council and the Liberal Democrats best. The Liberal Democrats won control of the council with a majority of 1.
In Ash Vale, a councillor who had been elected in 1991 as a Liberal Democrat, but had subsequently resigned from the party, stood and was elected along with another candidate under the banner "Putting Ash Vale First".
Borough boundary changes took place but the number of seats remained the same.legislation.gov.uk - The Hampshire and Surrey (County Boundaries) Order 1991. Retrieved on 5 November 2015.
1999
+ 1999 ElectionSurrey Advertiser 14 May 1999Party Seats Conservative17 Labour6 Liberal Democrats20 Independent2
Number of councillors per ward is shown in brackets after the ward name.
Wards won by the Conservatives – Ash (3); Ash Vale (2); Clandon and Horsley (3); Effingham (1); Lovelace (1); Normandy (1); Pilgrims (2); Pirbright (1); Send (2); Shalford (1)
Wards won by Labour – Stoke (3); Westborough (3)
Wards won by Liberal Democrats – Friary and St Nicolas (3); Holy Trinity (2); Merrow and Burpham (3); Onslow (3); Stoughton (3); Worplesdon (3)
Ward won by independent – Tongham (1)
Wards electing councillors of more than one party – Christchurch (2 – 1 Con, 1 LibD); Tillingbourne (2 – 1 LibD, 1 Ind)