Unitary Council Ward summaries – Infographics

Local elections will take place across Surrey on Thursday 7 May 2026. These elections are part of a major change to local government in Surrey and will not follow the usual district, borough or county format. Instead, voters will elect councillors to the two new unitary councils being created under Local Government Reorganisation (LGR).Under the new system, the unitary authorities will provide all of the local services which have – until now – been delivered by Surrey County Council and the eleven district/borough councils.

The political map of Surrey has been changed by the Local Government Boundary Commission for England (LGBCE ) so that there are now 81 wards, with two councillors representing each one.

West Surrey Council will have 90 seats for 45 wards, while East Surrey Council will have 72 seats up for election in 36 wards. Councillors elected in May 2026 will serve for a term of 5 years. They will initially sit on the shadow authority for their respective Unitary until the unitary councils formally begin operating on 1 April 2027.

You can find out more about the Elections process including how to vote, where to vote, and how to stand as a candidate, on the Future Surrey website here: Surrey Local Elections May 2026

This page provides Insight Summaries regarding the communities in each of the new Unitary Council Wards. It is our hope this will help both candidates and voters to be mindful of the communities involved.

The ‘easy read’ infographic two-page summary of key information can be viewed online in the screen beneath or directly on Tableau Public. Please select the Unitary council of interest first, then the appropriate Ward, via the drop-down boxes. You can then switch between Page 1 (demographics) and Page 2 (circumstances) to access all the information.

N.B. Clicking on the ‘Share’ button at the bottom right of the dashboard gives the option to download the pages as PDFs or other formats.