The Borough of Guildford is a local government district with borough status in Surrey, England. With around half of the borough's population, Guildford is its largest settlement and only town, and is where the council is based.

The borough includes part of the Surrey Hills, a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The neighbouring districts are Surrey Heath, Woking, Elmbridge, Reigate and Banstead, Waverley and Rushmoor.

The town of Guildford was an ancient borough, with its first known charter dating from 1257. It was reformed to become a municipal borough in 1836 under the Municipal Corporations Act 1835, which standardised the way many boroughs operated across the country. The borough boundaries were enlarged several times, notably in 1836, 1933 and 1954.

The modern district was formed on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, covering the area of two former districts, which were both abolished at the same time:

• Guildford Municipal Borough
• Guildford Rural District

Guildford's borough status transferred to the new district from its creation, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor, continuing Guildford's series of mayors dating back to at least the fifteenth century.

Guildford Borough Council
Type
Type	Non-metropolitan district
Leadership
Mayor	Sallie Barker, Conservative since 8 May 2024
Leader	Julia McShane, Liberal Democrat since 11 October 2022
Chief Executive	Pedro Wrobel since 8 April 2024
Structure
Seats	48 councillors
Political groups	Administration (25)   Liberal Democrats (25) Other parties (23)   Conservative (10)   Residents (7)   Greenbelt Group (3)   Labour (3)
Length of term	4 years
Elections
Last election	4 May 2023
Next election	6 May 2027
Meeting place
Millmead House, Millmead, Guildford, GU2 4BB
Website
www.guildford.gov.uk

Guildford Borough Council provides district-level services. County-level services are provided by Surrey County Council. Parts of the borough are covered by civil parishes, which form a third tier of local government for their areas.

The council owns significant heritage assets that include monuments such as Guildford Castle, as well museums, art collections and civic regalia.

The council has shared a chief executive with neighbouring Waverley Borough Council since 2021.

The council has been under Liberal Democrat majority control since the 2023 election.

Political control of the old municipal borough council from 1836 to 1974 was as follows:

Party in control		Years
	Conservative	1836–1875
	No overall control	1875–1877
	Conservative	1877–1879
	No overall control	1879–1880
	Conservative	1880–1883
	No overall control	1883–1885
	Conservative	1885–1888
	Liberal	1888–1889
	Conservative	1889–1892
	No overall control	1892–1892
	Liberal	1892–1894
	No overall control	1894–1895
	Liberal	1895–1898
	No overall control	1898–1899
	Independent	1899–1957
	No overall control	1957–1965
	Conservative	1965–1972
	No overall control	1972–1974

Political control of the modern borough council since the 1974 reforms has been as follows:

Party in control		Years
	Conservative	1974–1991
	No overall control	1991–1995
	Liberal Democrats	1995–1997
	No overall control	1997–2003
	Conservative	2003–2019
	No overall control	2019–2023
	Liberal Democrats	2023–present

The role of mayor is largely ceremonial in Guildford. Political leadership is instead provided by the leader of the council. The leaders since 2010 have been:

Councillor	Party		From	To
Tony Rooth		Conservative	May 2010	11 Oct 2012
Stephen Mansbridge		Conservative	11 Oct 2012	19 Oct 2015
Paul Spooner		Conservative	9 Dec 2015	15 May 2019
Caroline Reeves		Liberal Democrats	15 May 2019	22 Sep 2020
Joss Bigmore		Residents for Guildford and Villages	6 Oct 2020	11 Oct 2022
Julia McShane		Liberal Democrats	12 Oct 2022

Following the 2023 election the composition of the council was:

Party		Councillors
	Liberal Democrats	25
	Conservative	10
	Residents for Guildford and Villages	7
	Guildford Greenbelt Group	3
	Labour	3
Total		48

The next election is due in 2027.

Since the last boundary changes in 2023 the council has comprised 48 councillors representing 21 wards, with each ward electing one, two or three councillors. Elections are held every four years.

The borough straddles four parliamentary constituencies:

Constituency	Member of Parliament	Political party
Guildford	Zöe Franklin		Liberal Democrats
Dorking & Horley	Chris Coghlan
Surrey Heath	Al Pinkerton
Woking	Will Forster

The council is based at Millmead House on Millmead in Guildford. The original house dates from the late seventeenth century, with extensive modern additions to the rear. Prior to the local government reorganisation of 1974, the building had been the headquarters of Guildford Rural District Council. The council's annual meeting when new mayors are appointed each May is held at Guildford Guildhall.

Guildford has the second largest population of Surrey's eleven districts (based on census statistics, only 600 residents behind Reigate and Banstead). Approximately half of the borough's population live in the town of Guildford.

The central part of the borough, corresponding to the pre-1974 borough and covering the majority of the Guildford built-up area, is an unparished area. This area includes Bellfields, Boxgrove, Onslow Village, Park Barn, Stoughton, Westborough, and the (former) villages of Burpham, and Merrow.

The rest of the borough is covered by civil parishes:

Notes

References