Guildford is a constituency in Surrey represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2024 by Zöe Franklin, a Liberal Democrat.
Constituency profile
The Guildford constituency is located in Surrey. It covers the large town of Guildford, which has a population of around 82,000, and the rural areas to its east including the villages of East Horsley and Send. Guildford is a historic town located around from central London and forms part of the city's wider urban area. The town is home to the University of Surrey, which has around 16,000 students. Guildford is generally suburban in character with a low proportion of high-density terraced housing. The town and its surroundings are highly affluent, with most parts of the constituency falling within the top 10% least-deprived areas in England. The average house price is considerably higher than the rest of South East England and almost double the national average.
In general, residents of the constituency are young and well-educated. They are likely to work in professional occupations and have very high levels of household income compared to the rest of the country. At the local council level, the town is mostly represented by Liberal Democrats with some Labour Party representation in the more deprived Bellfields area. The villages and rural areas to the east mostly elected minor localist parties. An estimated 59% of voters in the constituency supported remaining in the European Union in the 2016 referendum, higher than the nationwide figure of 48%. and one until 1885. In the latter years of sending two members a bloc vote system of elections was used. Until 1885 the electorate in the town of Guildford elected the member(s) of parliament, which expanded in 1885 into a county division of Guildford under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885.
Early political history
The seat almost exclusively elected Conservatives between 1868 and 2001, with just two exceptions during that period. In 1868, Guildford Onslow, a Liberal, became the first MP to secure election to the single-member (as opposed to the previous two-member) borough constituency of Guildford. This was yet another example of a ‘centuries-old’ representation of Guildford by influential members of the Earl of Onslow's family, with Guildford Onslow himself, in turn, being defeated by a further member of this same family (from its minor Sussex and British Indian branch), Denzil Onslow, a Conservative, in the succeeding election of 1874. A majority of the seat's voters were again swayed toward the Liberal cause in the Liberal landslide year of the 1906 general election.
Modern political history
Successive elections in 2001 and 2005 saw marginal majorities of under 2% of the vote - in favour of a Liberal Democrat and then a Conservative. The 2015 result brought the incumbent MP, Anne Milton, a huge Conservative majority of more than 41 percentage points, up from 14 percentage points in 2010. However, the seat swung substantially towards the Liberal Democrats in the 2019 general election, and the Lib Dems then won the seat back from the Conservatives in 2024 with a majority of over 8,000.
Boundaries
1885–1918: The Boroughs of Guildford and Godalming, the Sessional Division of Farnham, and part of the Sessional Division of Guildford.
1918–1950: The Boroughs of Guildford and Godalming, the Urban District of Haslemere, the Rural District of Hambledon, and the Rural District of Guildford except the civil parish of Pirbright.
1950–1983: The Borough of Guildford, in the Rural District of Guildford the parishes of Artington, Compton, Puttenham, Shackleford, Shalford, Wanborough, and Worplesdon, and in the Rural District of Hambledon the parishes of Alfold, Bramley, Busbridge, Cranleigh, Dunsfold, Ewhurst, Hambledon, Hascombe, and Wonersh.
1983–1997: The Borough of Guildford wards of Christchurch, Friary and St Nicolas, Holy Trinity, Merrow and Burpham, Onslow, Pilgrims, Shalford, Stoke, Stoughton, Tongham, Westborough, and Worplesdon, and the District of Waverley wards of Blackheath and Wonersh, Bramley, Cranleigh East, Cranleigh West, Ewhurst, and Shamley Green.
1997–2010: As above less Tongham ward.
2010–2024: The Borough of Guildford wards of Burpham, Christchurch, Friary and St Nicolas, Holy Trinity, Merrow, Onslow, Pilgrims, Shalford, Stoke, Stoughton, Westborough, and Worplesdon, and the Borough of Waverley wards of Alfold, Blackheath and Wonersh, Cranleigh East, Cranleigh Rural and Ellens Green, Cranleigh West, Ewhurst, and Shamley Green and Cranleigh North.
2024–present: The Borough of Guildford wards of Bellfields & Slyfield, Burpham, Castle, Clandon & Horsley, Effingham, Merrow, Onslow, Send & Lovelace, St Nicolas, Stoke, Stoughton North, Stoughton South, Westborough, and Worplesdon
:Electorate reduced to bring it within the permitted range by transferring the parts in the Borough of Waverley, including Cranleigh to the newly created constituency of Godalming and Ash (except the small Ewhurst ward, which went to Dorking and Horley). To compensate, Clandon, Horsley, Effingham, Send and Lovelace in Guildford borough were added from the former Mole Valley seat.
Members of Parliament
MPs 1295–1640
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Parliament!!First member!!Second member
|-
| 1377 || Henry Colas ||
|-
| 1381|| Robert atte Mille||
|-
| 1386|| John Gatyn|| Henry Marlborough
|-
| 1388 (Feb)|| John Bonet|| Robert Chesenhale
|-
| 1529|| Sir Thomas Palmer|| John Dale
|-
| 1562–3|| Thomas Bromley|| John Austen!!First party!!colspan="2"|Second member
|-
| 1768
|
| Sir Fletcher Norton
|
|-
| 1782 by-election
| style="color:inherit;background-color: white" |
| William Norton
|
|-
| 1784
| rowspan="3" style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| rowspan="3"| Viscount Cranley
| rowspan="3"| Whig
| rowspan="3"| Whig
| rowspan="4" style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| rowspan="4"| Ross Donnelly Mangles
| rowspan="4"| Whig
|-
| 1857
| rowspan="3" style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| rowspan="3"| William Bovill
| rowspan="3"| Conservative
|-
| 1858 by-election
| style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| rowspan="3"| Guildford Onslow
| Whig
|-
| 1859
|rowspan="2" style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
|rowspan="2" | Liberal
|-
| 1866 by-election
| style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| Richard Garth
| Conservative
|-
| 1868
| colspan="6" | Representation reduced to one member
|}
MPs since 1868
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!colspan="2"|Election!!Member|votes=22,937|percentage=47.5|change=+8.3|
Elections in the 2010s
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! colspan="4" | 2019 notional result
|-
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="130px" colspan="2" | Party
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="50px" | Vote
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="30px" | %
|-
|
| Conservative ||align=right| 23,708 ||align=right| 45.1
|-
|
| Liberal Democrats ||align=right| 20,591 ||align=right| 39.2
|-
|
| Labour ||align=right| 4,411 ||align=right| 8.4
|-
|
| Others ||align=right| 3,677 ||align=right| 6.9
|-
|
| Green ||align=right| 197 ||align=right| 0.4
|-
|colspan="4" bgcolor="#EAECF0"|
|-
|colspan="2"|Turnout
|align=right|52,584
|align=right|73.7
|-
|colspan="2"|Electorate
|align=right|71,367
|}
Elections in the 2000s
Elections in the 1990s
This constituency underwent boundary changes between the 1992 and 1997 general elections and thus change in share of vote is based on a notional calculation.
Elections in the 1980s
Elections in the 1970s
Elections in the 1960s
Elections in the 1950s
Boundaries were redrawn in time for the 1950 general election. From 1918 to 1950 the three parts of western Surrey are set out at the 1918 results below. The next change saw an additional seat duty carved out, to be Woking. As a result, Guildford, now oversized, shrank considerably in area and population. To the south the areas of Godalming, Elstead, Thursley, Whitley, Haslemere and Chiddingford were added to the Farnham seat. To the east Send, Ripley, Wisley, Ockham, St Martha, Albury, Shere, Clandon and Horsley were added to Dorking.
These boundaries centred on the town of Guildford plus an area southwards towards Cranleigh, became, with small changes in later reviews, form the basic shape for Guildford until present.
Elections in the 1940s
Elections in the 1930s
Elections in the 1920s
<!-- Commented out: thumb|William Bennett -->
Elections in the 1910s
From 1885 to 1918 the west part of Surrey had been represented by two seats - in the north the seat of Chertsey, in the south that of Guildford. Boundaries were redrawn for proper apportionment in time for the 1918 general election such that the same area saw three seats - Farnham in the west, Chertsey in the north east and Guildford in the south east.
As a result, the seat lost the areas of Ash, Normandy, Seale, Frensham and Farnham, towards its west, but to the east gained the areas of Merrow, Send, Ripley, Ockham, Wisley, Clandon and Horsley from Chertsey.
thumb|120px|Horne
thumb|120px|Methuen
Elections in the 1900s
thumb|120px|Cowan