Congratulations to Keith and Phoebe on being elected to represent Waverley Western Villages. Elstead Parish Council looks forward very much to working with both elected representatives as well as with Cllr Long who remains "in post" for the coming year during the hand over process. Following is a press release from Surrey CC summarising the results for the new 'West Surrey unitary authority' and explaining the hand over "shadow" phase. Further updates will be posted on the Future Surrey website in due course. West Surrey results Following yesterday’s count (8 May 2026) for the West Surrey Council election, Liberal Democrats secured 56 of the 90 seats available, meaning it holds the majority. The full political make-up of the new West Surrey Council is:  56 Liberal Democrats                    20 Conservative Party                     9 Reform UK                         2 Farnham Residents                  1 Independent                         1 Residents for Guildford and Villages          1Runnymede Independent Residents’ Group      A total of 452 candidates stood for 90 seats across 45 wards. The total number of verified ballot papers was 225,203 from an electorate of 488,899 eligible voters in the West Surrey Council electoral area. This is made up of the geographic council areas of Spelthorne, Runnymede, Surrey Heath, Woking, Guildford and Waverley.  What happens next? West Surrey Council will be officially established on 1 April 2027. In preparation, there will be a transition period and the councillors elected on 7 May will be part of a shadow authority, which will meet for the first time on 20 May. At this meeting, the Council Leader will be voted in and they will announce the Deputy Leader as well as Shadow Executive Members. To take into account the shadow authority period and to give stability for the new councils, the new councillors will have a five-year term of office. Subsequent terms of office will be four years. West Surrey Council will operate as a ‘shadow authority’ alongside existing county, district and borough councils for the first year – until they officially take over delivery of services from 1 April 2027. In their role on the shadow authority, the newly elected councillors will set up the new council including agree budgets and council tax for 2027/28, decide staffing structures and governance arrangements, adopt codes of conduct and members’ allowance schemes and prepare for the transfer of responsibilities from the existing councils in Surrey. Existing county, borough and district councils will continue to operate and deliver their services as normal until 1 April 2027. Existing county, borough and district councillors will continue in their roles until this time, and residents should continue to contact them with service enquires as usual. The new shadow West Surrey councillors will only be able to respond…