Elmbridge Borough Council

Elmbridge Borough Council provides district-level services to the Borough of Elmbridge, in Surrey, in South East England. It is based in the town of Esher. County-level services are provided by Surrey County Council.^[2] Claygate is a civil parish, which forms a third tier of local government for that part of the borough only; the rest of the borough is an unparished area.^[3]

Elmbridge Borough Council
Type
Type	Non-metropolitan district
Leadership
Mayor	Steve Bax, Conservative since 21 May 2025[1]
Leader	Mike Rollings, Liberal Democrat since 15 May 2024
Chief Executive	Adam Chalmers since 2022
Structure
Seats	48 councillors
Political groups	Administration (33)   Liberal Democrats (21)   Residents' Assoc. (12) Other parties (15)   Conservative (10)   Residents' Assoc. (2)   Reform UK (1)   Independent (2)
Elections
Voting system	First past the post
Last election	2 May 2024
Next election	7 May 2026
Meeting place
Civic Centre, High Street, Esher, KT10 9SD
Website
www.elmbridge.gov.uk

Political control

The council has been under no overall control since 2016. Since the 2023 election the council has been run by a coalition of the Liberal Democrats and most of the residents' associations (RA), with a Liberal Democrat leader of the council.^[4]

The first elections to the council were held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until the new arrangements came into effect on 1 April 1974. Political control of the council since 1974 has been as follows:^[5]

Party in control		Years
	Conservative	1974–1986
	No overall control	1986–1988
	Conservative	1988–1991
	No overall control	1991–2002
	Independent	2002–2005
	No overall control	2005–2008
	Conservative	2008–2016
	No overall control	2016–present

Leadership

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

Councillor	Party		From	To
Roy Taylor[6]		Conservative		May 2010
John O'Reilly[7][8]		Conservative	19 May 2010	May 2016
Stuart Selleck[9][10]		Molesey Residents' Association	18 May 2016	16 May 2018
Tim Oliver[10][11]		Conservative	16 May 2018	Jan 2019
James Browne[11][12]		Conservative	27 Feb 2019	15 May 2019
Stuart Selleck[12][13]		Molesey Residents' Association	15 May 2019	May 2021
Chris Sadler[13][4]		The Walton Society	19 May 2021	May 2023
Bruce McDonald[4][14][15]		Liberal Democrats	17 May 2023	May 2024
Mike Rollings[16]		Liberal Democrats	15 May 2024

Composition

Following the 2024 election,^[17] and subsequent changes of allegiance up to May 2025, the composition of the council was:^[18]

Party		Councillors
	Liberal Democrats	21
	Conservative	10
	Thames Ditton and Weston Green Residents' Association	4
	Esher Residents' Association	3
	Molesey Residents' Association	3
	Hinchley Wood Residents' Association	2
	Reform UK	1
	The Walton Society	1
	Weybridge and St George's Independents	1
	Independent	2
Total		48

The Thames Ditton and Weston Green RA, Esher RA, Molesey RA, Walton Society, and Weybridge and St George's Independents sit together as the "Residents' Associations Group", which forms the council's administration in coalition with the Liberal Democrats.^[19] The next election is due in 2026.^[18]

Elections

See also: Elmbridge Borough Council elections

Since the last boundary changes in 2016 the council has comprised 48 councillors representing 16 wards, with each ward electing three councillors. Elections are held three years out of every four, with a third of the council (one councillor for each ward) being elected each time for a four-year term of office. Surrey County Council elections are held in the fourth year of the cycle when there are no borough council elections.^[20]

Premises

The council is based at the Civic Centre, off the High Street in the centre in Esher, which was purpose-built for the council in 1991.^[21][22]

Sandown House: Council offices until 1991, now flats.

When the council was created in 1974 it inherited offices at the Town Hall on New Zealand Avenue in Walton-on-Thames from Walton and Weybridge Urban District Council, and at Sandown House at 1 High Street from Esher Urban District Council. It initially used Walton Town Hall, a 1960s building, as its headquarters, retaining Sandown House as additional offices.^[23] The new Civic Centre was built on land behind Sandown House, which has since been converted into flats, whilst Walton Town Hall has been demolished.