Following the count on 8 May 2026 for the East Surrey Council election, Liberal Democrats secured 40 of the 72 seats available meaning it holds the majority.
The full political make-up of the new East Surrey Council is:

• 40 Liberal Democrats
• 10 Conservative Party
• 8 Green Party
• 5 Reform UK
• 2 Ashtead Independent, working with Ashtead Residents
• 2 Independent
• 2 Nork and Tattenhams Residents’ Associations
• 2 Residents Association of Epsom and Ewell
• 1 The Molesey Residents’ Association

A total of 379 candidates stood for 72 seats across 36 wards.

Electors cast their votes in polling stations all over East Surrey.

​​​​​​​​​The total number of ballot papers issued was 199,485 from an electorate of 406,177 in the East Surrey Council electoral area. This is made up of the geographic council areas of Elmbridge, Epsom & Ewell, Mole Valley, Reigate & Banstead and Tandridge.

Results by ward and for West Surrey Council

Full results are available on the Future Surrey website including total votes for every candidate in each ward.

What’s next?

East Surrey Council and West Surrey Council will be officially established on 1 April 2027. In preparation, there will be a transition period and the councillors elected on 8 May will be part of shadow authorities for East and West Surrey until 1 April 2027. The first meeting of the East Surrey Shadow Authority will take place on Wednesday 20 May 2026 in Reigate, and the West Surrey Shadow Authority will meet for the first time on Thursday 21 May 2026 in Guildford.

At these meetings, council leaders will be voted in and they will announce the deputy leaders as well as shadow executive members.

The creation of two brand new unitary councils to replace the existing 12 councils is a major change to local government in Surrey. Unitary councils are responsible for delivery of all council services in a geographic area – which is different to the current structure where the county council delivers some services and district or borough councils deliver others.

Both unitary councils will operate as a shadow authorities alongside existing county, district and borough councils for the first year – until they officially take over delivery of services from 1 April 2027. This means that the new councillors will have a five-year term of office. Subsequent terms of office will be four years.

In their role on the shadow authority, the newly elected councillors will set up the new council. They will agree budgets and council tax for 2027/28, decide staffing structures and governance arrangements, adopt codes of conduct and members’ allowance schemes and prepare for the transfer of responsibilities from the existing councils in Surrey.

Existing county, borough and district councils will operate as normal until 1 April 2027, and existing county, borough and district councillors will continue in their roles until this time. Residents should continue to contact them with service enquires as usual. The new shadow councillors will only be able to respond on questions relating to the creation of the new councils in their first year of service.

Residents will be advised of any service changes in due course and the Future Surrey website will be kept updated.

New Councillor Co-opted for Horley West Ward
Maggie was officially co-opted at the recent Council meeting and we are delighted to welcome her to the Council. We look forward to working with her and wish her every success in her new role serving the local community.

You can read the press release on our website here: Read the full article on the Horley Town Council website

Town Mayor and New Deputy Mayor Appointed for 2026/27

Horley Town Council is pleased to announce the appointments of Cllr Lynnette Easterbrook as Council Chair and Town Mayor, also Cllr Sam Mearing as Vice-Chair and Deputy Town Mayor for the 2026/27 municipal year.

We would like to congratulate both councillors on their appointments and wish them every success in their roles over the coming year.

Read the full press release on our website here: Read the full article on the Horley Town Council website 

For a small town that boasts no cinema, professional theatre, concert hall or art gallery, culturally, Horley punches above its weight. The first ever Horley Community Arts Festival which took place from 17-25 April, revealed a wealth of talent and cultural activity firmly embedded in the life of our town, whose practitioners were keen to share with other residents. The twin aims of the festival were to showcase the  many and varied arts endeavours- music, theatre, art, literature, comedy and dance- and to encourage residents who may have been intrigued by all that was on offer, to come and try for themselves, and discover the life-enhancing joys of creative expression with other people.

Much of this would not have been possible without the support and participation of three central institutions in the town. St Bartholomew’s Church, aka St Bart’s, is probably the oldest, with the church dating back to the 14th century. Rev. Les Wells and the parish team generously made this beautiful building available for a variety of events during the week. Visitors there attended two lunchtime concerts by Nigerian musicians, Hurlastringz and Dayo Sax, and  musicians Richard Calver (organ) and Andres Villalobos Lepiz (baroque oboe). The church hosted open rehearsals/taster sessions for Vocal Dimension, Let’s Dance Melange and Start Steppers, along with  workshops on  accents and voice for singers, both given as free opportunities by the professional voice coach and performer Jenny Tullett. The church also displayed the beautiful mural created by the children of Westvale.

Horley Archway Theatre, which has been providing our town with high quality theatrical productions from its unique location under the railway arches for over 70 years,  shared secrets of the backstage and showcased the talents of their members (including stage fighting!) to the delight of the audiences. Over the road at Horley Library, which, if you haven’t visited yet, is much more than ‘just books’, we were treated to improv comedy from Dingbats, meet the author events with Stafford Vance and Yeliz Hakki, storytelling from Gary Andrews, rhymetime for tots, and a tree drawing class by resident artist Liz. Horley Singers shared their open rehearsal at Horley Methodist Church, Horley Community Choir were to be found at St Wilfrid’s and Rock Choir at Hookwood Memorial Hall. Bringing the arts to STEM, Cllr. Martin Saunders led a workshop on design in gaming and technology at Horley Health Hub.

The Tavern held regular live music events and Serendipity a Paint and Sip session. On the last day of the festival, which coincided with the St George’s Day celebrations, Asian Bollywood style dancing was to be enjoyed in the town centre. The  final  event of the festival was a  concert held at St Bart’s, preceded by the glorious sound of the church bells. It featured three choirs: Horley Singers,  Rock Choir and Horley Community  Choir – who were giving their first public performance!- and Recorders in the Garage, all compered by Neil Munday of Susy Radio. The energy and sheer joy  of the performers was infectious, and a thoroughly good time was had by all. The two concerts at  St Bart’s raised £259.71p to be shared by  the Mayor’s charities  and  St Bart’s Roof Repair Fund. Over 30 events took place across the week -a phenomenal offering from the residents of a phenomenal town, proving that the arts are alive and thriving in Horley.

My thanks to all those mentioned above and everyone who supported or took part in the festival. Thanks also to Horley Town Council for their support, Kay Hymas of Reigate and Banstead Borough Council, Susy Radio and Digibubble Media.

The annual award scheme, set up over twenty years ago, recognises the unrewarded heroes who do a great amount of valuable work for the borough and its community. It is also meant to show appreciation to volunteers for their selfless service.  The scheme is organised by Reigate & Banstead Borough Council in partnership with Voluntary Action Surrey East.

 Volunteers can be nominated in five award categories:

 🎖️Young Volunteer Award - For volunteers aged between 16 and 25 who have gone above and beyond the standard expectation for their age and who have used their own volunteer experience to inspire others.

🎖️Volunteer Award - For volunteers over the age of 25 years old who have exceeded what would normally be expected of them and demonstrated their outstanding commitment to their role.

🎖️Individual Trustee Award - For those in Chairman, Treasurer or Secretary roles who have shown due diligence, good governance, and commitment for the minimum of a year, providing outstanding support, guidance, and inspiration to the organisation.

 🎖️Volunteer Team Award - For two or more volunteers or trustees who have demonstrated great teamwork, provided support and encouragement for other volunteers, and made a significant and positive impact through working together.

 🎖️Long Service Award - For volunteers that have completed a considerable length of voluntary service, 10 years or more.

To qualify, nominees must live and/or volunteer in the borough and not receive any remuneration for their time. 

The closing date for nominations is Friday 29 May 2026.

To nominate, please visit the council’s website: here

Have Your Say On Bus Travel In Surrey

Surrey County Council is continuing its work with Transport Focus to better understand how bus services are working for residents. Following the launch of the Your Bus Journey survey in 2023, we’re now running our own year-long bus user survey to gather even more local insight.

Hearing directly from people who use buses, as well as those who don’t, helps us understand what’s working well and where improvements are needed. This feedback plays a vital role in shaping how we work with bus operators and where future investment is focused.

Insights from previous surveys have already influenced key decisions. This includes improving bus infrastructure, such as bus stops and priority measures, and exploring simpler, more user-friendly fares and ticketing options.

The findings also highlight just how important buses are to many people in Surrey. More than a third of respondents said they have no alternative way to travel, rising to over 40% for disabled passengers. Feedback has also shown that positive, helpful interactions with bus drivers can make a significant difference to overall journey satisfaction.

Your feedback is essential in helping us build a bus network that works for everyone, supporting those who rely on it today, while encouraging more people to use it in the future.

Please take a few minutes to share your views by completing the survey here: https://surrey-bus-user-survey.commonplace.is/

Have you every wondered who is doing roadworks or when they might next pop up on your route to work? The OneNetwork interactive map shows all planned in roadworks. Access is open to all by clicking on this link

If you need to report a roads issue such as potholes or streetlights you can do so here