The 2016 Woking Borough Council election took place on 5 May 2016 to elect members of Woking Borough Council in England. This was on the same day as other elections across the UK and the Police and Crime Commissioner election for Surrey Police. Boundary changes coincided with a shrinking of the council, so all seats were up for election. In each ward, 3 candidates were elected, with the leading candidate being elected for 4 years, the second-placed candidate being elected for 3 years and the third-placed candidate being elected for 2 years. As a result, there will be no borough elections in 2017, but a third of the council will be up for re-election in each of 2018, 2019 and 2020.
Summary
Prior to the election, the Conservatives had a strong majority on the council, with 24 seats compared to 9 for the Liberal Democrats, 2 Labour councillors, and one independent. Despite remaining as the largest party, the result was considered poor for the Conservatives, who saw their majority reduced to two after losing seven sitting councillors. Independent councillors won all three seats in Byfleet, defeating Liberal DemocratAnne Roberts and Conservatives Gary Elson and Richard Wilson. The Liberal Democrats won seats back from the Conservatives in the new Hoe Valley ward, and defeated Conservative incumbents in Goldsworth Park and St Johns, while Labour took all three seats in Canalside, where the council was taking forward a controversial redevelopment scheme. In the Mount Hermon ward, Conservative councillor Carl Thomson and Liberal Democrat Liam Lyons both lost their seats, with 22 votes separating the second and fourth placed candidates. As a result of the election, long-standing council leader Councillor John Kingsbury faced a vote of confidence from the Conservative group, but was ultimately nominated for another year as leader after no other candidate emerged. Councillor Kingsbury later announced his retirement as council leader in 2017, and stood down as a councillor at the 2018 local elections.
