Our analysis of the Surrey local election results 2022

Similar to what transpired in the rest of the country, the results reflected a mixed bag for the Conservatives. On the one hand, the party experienced a defeat in Woking and losses in Tandridge, while on the other, it retained control of Runnymede, Reigate and Banstead borough councils.

Starting with their defeat in Woking, before the elections the Conservative Party ran the borough council as a minority administration. However, after having lost all five seats that they were seeking to defend, control has now passed to the Liberal Democrats. In her first address post-election, Liberal Democrat Leader Ann-Marie Barker vowed to take “a long hard look” at the Council’s finances and pledged to bring forward a Masterplan to control building heights in Woking town centre to combat what has been coined “the Croydonisation of Woking”.

Turning to Tandridge, the Conservative loss of four seats has meant that the Liberal Democrats are now the official opposition party. Before 2019, the Conservatives held a majority for nearly two decades. Tandridge will now be run as a minority administration by the Independent and OLRG (Oxted & Limpsfield Residents Group) Alliance, with Liberal Democrats now the official opposition and the Conservatives relegated to the third-largest party. On planning, we can expect the control by the Independents to comprise opposition to green belt development and ongoing work on the emerging Local Plan 2033.

These results suggest that people want clarity on planning and financial transparency from their local government leaders. Emerging planning policies are likely to have an impact on the approach to community engagement at the local level. As a specialist communications and community engagement consultancy, ECF is ideally placed to enable local communities to speak up and have their say on development proposals that directly affect them to help deliver a better built environment for all.