Yahoo News Five Surrey General Election seats to watch as Lib Dems and Labour look to gain
There is a chance of a seismic shift in the Surrey political landscape at the upcoming General Election. Multiple long-standing MPs are standing down, and there have been reports looking into alleged severe misconduct all with the backdrop of heavy Local Election losses for the Conservatives in the county in May.
With a General Election on the cards for July 4, Rishi Sunak will be hoping to remain Prime Minister to show ‘the plan is working’ for economic growth. With many of these hoped for economic benefits not yet reaching people's pockets, it’s too soon to say if the public will be persuaded.
Will Labour leader Keir Starmer (born and raised in Surrey’s Oxshott) be able to break into the traditional Conservative Surrey heartlands and turn some blue seats red? Ed Davey's Liberal Democrats have been eying up Surrey seats for years and hope to play their part in removing the Conservatives from office.
READ MORE: Conservatives could lose half of Surrey seats in General Election 2024, according to polling data
Surrey has been a Tory stronghold for decades, at borough, county and parliamentary level. But recent local election results showed all parties benefiting from a fall in Conservative support. The results meant that none of Surrey's 11 boroughs and distrcits now has a Tory majority. Although there is a narrow Conservative majority on the county council
Six Surrey MPs have announced they won't be standing for reelection, Conservative MPs Michael Gove (Surrey Heath), Dominic Raab (Esher and Walton), Kwasi Kwarteng (Spelthorne), Chris Grayling (Epsom and Ewell), and Sir Paul Beresford (Mole Valley) are not seeking reelection alongside Reigate MP Crispin Blunt, who was elected as a Conservative but now sits as an independent.
With familiar faces gone and a raft of boundary changes meaning new constituencies in the county there is much uncertainty. Below are five seats to keep an eye on in the upcoming election.
1: Godalming and Ash
Contesting MP: Jeremy Hunt - Conservative (53.3% votes in 2019)
While many of his cabinet colleagues have fallen away, the Chancellor of the Exchequer is clearly not ready to leave his position or constituents. An MP since 2010, Mr Hunt won an 8,827 majority in the 2019 elections. A prominent figure in the cabinet, Mr Hunt has held numerous positions and is well-known.
Due to constituency boundary changes, Mr Hunt’s West Surrey constituency no longer exists with the seats of Godalming and Ash and Farnham and Borden being created to replace it.
Running as the Lib Dem candidate in Godalming and Ash is Cllr Paul Follows. He is leader of Waverley Borough Council, leader of Godalming Town Council and a Surrey County councillor. Safe to say Mr Follows knows the depths of local government, can he make it to the national level?
Polls from The New Statesman and on Election Maps UK predict a Lib Dem victory, with between 36%-41% of the vote, and Conservatives at 30-33% - perhaps depending on how many votes Reform UK secures. This looks like a close race and surely one to watch- the Chancellor of the Exchequer could be about to have his own Portillo moment.
2: Guildford
Contesting MP: Angela Richardson - Conservative (44.9% votes in 2019)
Deputy chair of the Conservative Party, Angela Richardson won a narrow victory last election with only a 3,000 vote majority. She voted against PM Boris Johnson in the 2022 no-confidence vote, arguing he had lost the public’s trust.
Hot on her heels is Zoe Franklin, for the Liberal Democrats, who came second in 2019 with 39.2% of the vote. Hoping for third time lucky, Ms Franklin’s votes have jumped from around 13,000 in 2017, to nearly 23,000 in 2019.
The Lib Dems have controlled the council since May 2019, with just 10 Conservative councillors
Water is likely to be a main talking point, with the Lib Dems' national campaign to stop sewage dumping and tackle water reform. Meanwhile, Ms Richardson is campaigning to reduce flooding in Guildford and the surrounds.
3: Esher and Walton
Previous MP: Dominic Raab – Conservative (49.4% of votes in 2019)
Dominic Raab has been the MP for Esher and Walton since 2010, but after bullying allegations emerged and a subsequent report found him “unreasonably aggressive” in 2022 he decided to step down at the next election. Mr Raab denied all wrongdoing.
Campaigning in a ‘Remain’ constituency, Brexiteer Mr Raab secured a narrow 3,000 majority ahead of his Lib Dem opponent, Monica Harding in the 2019 election. Tactical voting may have played a heavy hand as locals sent a message to the Conservatives. With Brexit less of a core issue this time round will the vote be as close again?
Opposition leader for Elmbridge Council, Cllr John Cope is running as the Conservative candidate. He narrowly kept his ward seat in the May council elections with just 129 votes more than his Lib Dem rival. Will this be replicated in the wider constituency?
Contesting the seat for the second time, Ms Harding is hoping to make it. Running her campaign in 2019 based on no political experience, Ms Harding decided to stop ‘shouting at the tv’ and went on to achieve 28,389 votes.
4: Runnymede and Weybridge
Contesting MP: Ben Spencer - Conservative (54.9% of votes in 2019)
Securing a strong majority of 18,270 votes in the 2019 elections, Dr Ben Spencer achieved a similar percentage to his predecessor Philip Hammond. Dr Spencer might not be so lucky this time. Recent polling from The New Statesman and Election Maps UK show a close race forecast between the Conservatives and Labour, taking around 30% of the vote each.
After being a Conservative stronghold seat since its creation in 1997, Runnymede and Weybridge could be the first brick of the Surrey wall to turn red for Labour. The Reform Party, although unlikely to win a seat here, could take important votes away from the Conservatives as it is predicted to absorb 11.7% of the vote.
Giving it a second chance, Robert King (Labour) is running again. Leader of the Labour Party in the Runnymede council, he had a successful May local elections as his party won four seats. The Conservatives lost seven seats, including the deputy council leader.
5: Reigate
Previous MP: Crispin Blunt - Independent (53.9% of votes in 2019 as a Conservative)
After over 25 years of public service as an MP (1997), Mr Blunt announced he would step down at the next election in May 2022. In October 2023, he was arrested on suspicion of rape and possession of controlled substances, and had the Conservative Party whip removed. Mr Blunt was released under investigation in April 2024 and denies any wrongdoing.
After Mr Blunt won a massive majority of 18,310 in 2019, can the Conservatives inherit his popularity? Labour and Lib Dems came neck and neck at the 2019 election with around 10,000 votes each, showing a strong sense of feeling between the two. Current polling suggests either a close run between Conservatives and Lib Dems (New Statesman) or Conservatives and Labour (Election Maps UK).
With new candidates standing from the three main parties, it could be a toss up between them. Rebecca Paul (Conservative), Mark Johnston (Lib Dem) and Stuart Brady (Labour) all seem to stick to the representative party policies, rather than designing a unique promise to Reigate.
May local elections saw all other parties gain from Conservative losses, with Labour gaining another councillor in Redhill.
Got a story? Is there an election issue you wanted covered? Email emily.dalton@reachplc.com
