Surrey County Council

History

Elected county councils were created in 1889 under the Local Government Act 1888, taking over many administrative functions which had been performed by unelected magistrates at the quarter sessions. In Surrey's case, most such functions in the north-east of the county had already passed to the Metropolitan Board of Works, which had been established in 1856 to administer the urban area of London. Under the 1888 Act, the Metropolitan Board of Works' area became the new County of London. The then borough of Croydon lay outside the County of London, but was considered large enough to run county-level services and so it was made a county borough. Surrey County Council was elected by and provided services to the rest of the county, which area was termed the administrative county.

The first elections to the county council were held in January 1889 and it formally came into being on 1 April 1889. On that day it held its first official meeting at the Sessions House in Newington, which had been the meeting place of the Surrey Quarter Sessions since 1791. Co-incidentally, it was also near Waterloo station, a major hub for the railways serving Surrey. Sessions House was in the area that had transferred from Surrey to the new county of London. The first chairman was Edward Leycester-Penrhyn, who had been chairman of the quarter sessions since 1861.

In 1965, the London Government Act 1963 abolished the existing county of London and replaced it with the larger Greater London, which took over more territory in the north-east of Surrey, including Richmond, Kingston-upon-Thames, Wimbledon and Sutton. At the same time, Staines and Sunbury-on-Thames were transferred to Surrey from Middlesex. In 1974, the Local Government Act 1972 designated Surrey a non-metropolitan county. Prior to the 1974 reforms the lower tier of local government had comprised numerous municipal boroughs, urban districts and rural districts; these were reorganised into eleven non-metropolitan districts.

Governance

Surrey County Council provides county-level services. District-level services are provided by the eleven district councils:

• Elmbridge Borough Council
• Epsom and Ewell Borough Council
• Guildford Borough Council
• Mole Valley District Council
• Reigate and Banstead Borough Council
• Runnymede Borough Council
• Spelthorne Borough Council
• Surrey Heath Borough Council
• Tandridge District Council
• Waverley Borough Council
• Woking Borough Council

Much of the county is also covered by civil parishes, which form a third tier of local government.

Political control

The county council has been under Conservative control for most of the time since 1973. In the 2021 election, the Conservatives won a majority, but after two by-elections on 21 August 2025 where Reform UK and the Liberal Democrats won a seat each, the county council is under no overall control.

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

Leadership

Since 1997, the council has formally appointed a leader of the council. Since then, the chairman has been a more ceremonial role, presiding at council meetings and representing the council at civic functions. Prior to 1997, the chair of the main policy committee was sometimes informally referred to as the leader in the media. The leaders since 1997 have been:

Composition

Following the 2021 election and subsequent by-elections and changes of allegiance up to May 2025, the composition of the council was (41 needed for a majority):

The various residents' associations and three of the four independent councillors sit together as a group.

In February 2025, the government postponed the elections that were due to take place in May 2025 for a year, to allow for alternative local government structures for the area to be considered.

Elections

Since the last boundary changes in 2013 the county has been divided into 81 electoral divisions, each of which elects one councillor. Elections are held every four years. The May 2025 elections were cancelled owing to the impending abolition of Surrey County Council, leaving existing councillors in office without elections for an extra two years.

Premises

The council is based at Woodhatch Place in Reigate. The main building there was built in 1999 as the headquarters of Canon (UK) Limited; the complex also includes a large Georgian house. Woodhatch Place was bought by the council in 2020 and converted to become its headquarters including a council chamber and committee rooms. The venue's first full council meeting took place in May 2021.

The council was first headquartered in Newington where the Surrey Quarter Sessions court had been held since 1791. The council moved to a purpose-built headquarters at County Hall, Kingston upon Thames in 1893.

Kingston became part of Greater London in 1965. Despite it no longer being in their administrative area, the council continued to be based at County Hall for another 56 years. In November 2019, Surrey County Council announced it would relocate to Woking. The move to Woking was scrapped in 2020; a move to Reigate was announced instead.

Coat of arms

The escutcheon is described as 'Per pale Azure and Sable two Keys in bend wards upwards and outwards bows interlaced Or between in dexter base a Woolpack and in sinister chief a Sprig of Oak fructed Argent', with the badge 'On a Roundel per pale Azure and Sable in chief a Sprig of Oak fructed Argent and in base two Keys [in saltire] wards upwards and outwards Or'. These arms were granted in 1974.

References

References

1. "Council meeting, 20 May 2025".
2. (19 August 2024). "'Challenging times' for new chief executive". BBC News.
3. (5 May 2017). "Election results declared".
4. https://www.surreycc.gov.uk/community/news/categories/your-council/government-lgr-confirmation
5. (23 December 2020). "127 year chapter of history comes to an end as Surrey County Council moves home". Get Surrey.
6. "Council Offices".
7. [[Metropolis Management Act 1855]]
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9. "Diagram of the County of Surrey, 1900". Ordnance Survey.
10. (6 April 1889). "Surrey County Council". Wallington and Carshalton Herald.
11. (20 January 1919). "Mr E. H. Leycester-Penrhyn". Evening Mail.
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13. {{cite legislation UK. (1972)
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17. https://www.markpack.org.uk/175600/conservatives-lose-control-of-surrey-county-council/
18. (30 May 1997). "Tories take up the reins of power at County Hall". Surrey Live.
19. (9 January 1986). "Minister calls grant talks". Staines and Egham News.
20. (23 April 2009). "Surrey pledge exec shake-up". Localis.
21. "Council minutes, 23 June 2009".
22. (22 September 2011). "Surrey County Council leader Andrew Povey stands down". BBC News.
23. "Council minutes, 11 October 2011".
24. (13 November 2018). "Surrey County Council boss steps down after funds warning". BBC News.
25. "Council minutes, 11 December 2018".
26. "Your councillors by political grouping".
27. (5 February 2025). "Council shake-up sees elections delayed in nine areas". BBC News.
28. {{cite legislation UK. (2012)
29. (5 October 2020). "Surrey County Council set to be based in Surrey for first time in 55 years". Get Surrey.
30. "County Council minutes, 25 May 2021".
31. "Surrey History : Exploring Surrey's past – County Hall, Kingston".
32. Peter Ward. (31 May 2011). "County Hall".
33. Surrey County Council. (1 November 2019). "Surrey County Council moves to Woking".
34. (23 April 2020). "Coronavirus forces county council to pull out of Woking HQ move".
35. (15 October 2020). "County council base will be in Surrey for first time in 55 years".
36. "SURREY COUNTY COUNCIL". Robert Young.