New leadership for West Surrey Council

24 May 2026

West Surrey Council (WSC) held its first meeting on Thursday 21st May, at the Council chamber in Guildford. This was the first step towards the new WSC assuming operational responsibilities in April 2027.

A lot of one-off key decisions were made at this meeting - putting people and processes in place.

Appointment of Chair and Vice Chair

Similar to the Speaker in Parliament, debates and meetings in the chamber are chaired by a person who is selected from the elected members - but when they are chairing meetings in the chamber they remain politically neutral to ensure that all members are treated fairly. Penny Rivers is a very experienced Councillor with excellent, no-nonsense skills in this area – once elected she then chaired the remainder of the meeting, so if you watch the recording you’ll be able to see her in action.

Chair: Cllr Penny Rivers
Vice Chair: Cllr Masuk Miah

Appointment of Leader and Deputy Leader

The Leader and Deputy Leader of the Council are typically the same people who have already been selected as the Leader and Deputy Leader of the controlling political group – in this case the Liberal Democrats.

Leader: Cllr Paul Follows (Leader of Waverley BC)
Deputy Leader: Cllr Shaun Macdonald (Leader of Surrey Heath BC)

Appointment of Executive/Cabinet members

These roles can sometimes be referred to by ‘Cabinet’ or ‘Executive’, but it’s essentially the same thing. There are 10 Councillors who will sit on the Executive/Cabinet – the Leader and Deputy Leader plus a further 8 Cllrs. The Leader and Deputy Leader will assign a specific portfolio to each member of the Exec over the coming days.

Cllr Alan Ashbery (Surrey Heath)
Cllr Liz Townsend (Waverley)
Cllr Victoria Kiehl (Waverley)
Cllr Julia McShane (Guildford)
Cllr Ann-Marie Barker (Woking)
Cllr Ellen Nicholson (Woking)
Cllr Leslie Rice (Woking)
Cllr Dale Roberts (Woking)

The Constitution

A Council cannot legally operate without a Constitution, which sets out how the council will operate, make decisions, and act fairly, transparently and within the law. A proposed constitution was agreed, though it was noted that the Council may, if it wishes, make amendments to this in the future if they are scrutinised and agreed.

Agreement of initial priorities for the transition programme

The Surrey Local Government Implementation Plan sets out the approach, plans and timetables for the transition of services to the new West Surrey Council from 1 April 2027, and this working document was agreed by the new council.

Agreement of Members’ Allowances

It was agreed that WSC would adopt the allowance structure recommended by an external Independent Review Panel, which recommended an allowance of £19,315 pa. It was also agreed that, in the first shadow year when Councillors will be working behind the scenes, but will not have significant casework, that the allowance will be reduced to £12,072 for this year.

Appointment of Statutory Officers

It is a legal requirement that a Council must have 3 key officers in place from day one. WSC has filled these roles on an interim basis initially, and the recruitment process for permanent officers will start straight away. It is expected that these appointees will be in place in early autumn (mostly because people at this sort of level will generally have a 3 month notice period from their current role).

The interim officers are:

Head of Paid Service (CEO) – Andy Brown (seconded from Surrey County Council)
Chief Finance Officer – Vicky Radford (seconded from Surrey Heath BC)
Monitoring Officer – Susan Sale (seconded from Guildford and Godalming BC)

Next Steps

The Shadow Council will work closely with councils across Surrey, partners and local communities to shape how the new West Surrey Council will operate, ensuring it reflects local priorities and continues to deliver high-quality services.

In the meantime, council services continue as normal. Residents should contact their existing county or borough council or councillors for enquiries about day to day services. Shadow councillors can answer resident queries on local government reorganisation and the transition to the new authority in April 2027.

You can follow the establishment of the new West Surrey Council, including meeting agendas and minutes, on the Future Surrey website here.