Mole Valley District Council

Mole Valley District Council
Logo
Type
Type
Leadership
Simon Budd,
Conservative
since 19 May 2026[1]
Bridget Kendrick,
Liberal Democrat
since 20 May 2025
Karen Brimacombe
since 2017
Structure
Seats39 councillors
Graph of the party split among 39 seats.
Political groups
Administration (31)
    Liberal Democrats (31)
Other parties (8)
    Independent (6)
    Conservative (2)
Elections
First past the post
First election
7 June 1973
Last election
2 May 2024
Meeting place
Pippbrook, Dorking, RH4 1SH
Website
www.molevalley.gov.uk
South Holmwood

Mole Valley District Council provides district-level services for the local government district of Mole Valley, in Surrey, in South East England. County-level services are provided by Surrey County Council.[2] Parts of the district are covered by civil parishes, which form a third tier of local government for their areas.[3]

Mole Valley District Council, along with all Surrey district councils and Surrey County Council will be abolished in 2027 as part of ongoing local government restructuring, with the area of Mole Valley to become part of East Surrey, administered by East Surrey Council.[4][5]

Political control

The council has been under Liberal Democrat majority control since 2019.

The first elections to the council were held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until the new arrangements came into effect on 1 April 1974. Political control of the council since 1974 has been as follows:[6][7]

Party in controlYears
No overall control1974–1980
Independent1980–1982
No overall control1982–1994
Liberal Democrats1994–1995
No overall control1995–2006
Conservative2006–2010
No overall control2010–2015
Conservative2015–2018
No overall control2018–2019
Liberal Democrats2019–present

Leadership

The leaders of the council since 2012 have been:

CouncillorPartyFromTo
James Friend[8]ConservativeMay 2012
Chris Townsend[8][9]IndependentMay 20122015
James Friend[10][11]ConservativeMay 20152016
Vivienne Michael[12][13]Conservative2016May 2019
Stephen Cooksey[14][15]Liberal DemocratsMay 201920 May 2025
Bridget Kendrick[16]Liberal Democrats20 May 2025

Composition

Following the 2024 election the composition of the council was:[17]

Party Councillors
Liberal Democrats 31
Ashtead Independents 6
Conservative 2
Total 39

Elections

Since the last boundary changes in 2023 the council has comprised 39 councillors representing 13 wards, with each ward electing three councillors. Elections were held three years out of every four, with a third of the council (one councillor for each ward) elected each time for a four-year term of office. Surrey County Council elections were held in the fourth year of the cycle when there were no district council elections.[18]

Further district council elections were cancelled in 2026, and an election for the new East Surrey Council was held instead. East Surrey Council will formally come into being and take over local government functions in the area on 1 April 2027, at which point Mole Valley District Council and the district of Mole Valley will be abolished.[19]

Most of the district lies within the Mole Valley constituency, the exception being Ashtead which is within the Epsom and Ewell constituency.[3]

Premises

Pippbrook House: Council's offices until 1984.

The council is based at Pippbrook on Reigate Road in Dorking, which was purpose-built for the council and opened in 1984.[20] It was built in the grounds of a large Victorian house, called Pippbrook House, which had served as the headquarters of the old Dorking Urban District Council from 1931 and then as Mole Valley District Council's headquarters until the new building opened.[21]

References

  1. ↑ "Chairman of MVDC". Mole Valley District Council. Retrieved 25 July 2026.
  2. ↑ "Local Government Act 1972", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 1972 c. 70, retrieved 31 May 2023
  3. 1 2 "Election Maps". Ordnance Survey. Retrieved 9 January 2023.
  4. ↑ Starr, Claire; Akin, Sofia; Gupta, Tanya (8 May 2026). "Liberal Democrats take control of both new councils in Surrey". BBC News.
  5. ↑ "Government confirms new East and West councils for Surrey". Surrey County Council.
  6. ↑ "Compositions Calculator". The Elections Centre. University of Exeter. Retrieved 26 November 2024. (Put "Mole Valley" in search box to see specific results.)
  7. ↑ "Mole Valley". BBC News Online. 19 April 2009. Retrieved 2010-05-07.
  8. 1 2 Martin, Guy (25 May 2012). "Tory-independent union to continue in Mole Valley". Surrey Live. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
  9. ↑ Edwards, Mark (16 February 2015). "Masterplanner chosen for £100m Leatherhead regeneration project". Surrey Live. Retrieved 11 January 2025.
  10. ↑ Friend, James (22 May 2015). "Conservatives have retaken Mole Valley District Council". Conservative Home. Retrieved 11 January 2025.
  11. ↑ Smurthwaite, Tom; Tobitt, Charlotte (6 May 2016). "Local elections 2016: Conservatives hold Mole Valley DC as Dorking rejects town council idea". Surrey Live. Retrieved 11 January 2025.
  12. ↑ "Mole Valley featured on BBC's 'Council House Crackdown'". Ashtead and Leatherhead Local. July 2016. p. 28. Retrieved 11 January 2025.
  13. ↑ van Klaveren, Tom (3 May 2019). "Mole Valley Local Election results 2019: Lib Dems take control as Conservatives lose nine seats". Surrey Live. Retrieved 11 January 2025.
  14. ↑ Curley, Rebecca (8 May 2019). "Mole Valley District Council to be run by committees instead of cabinet". Surrey Live. Retrieved 11 January 2025.
  15. ↑ Caulfield, Chris (23 May 2025). "New Mole Valley District Council leader appointed". Surrey World. Retrieved 31 May 2025.
  16. ↑ "Leader of MVDC". Mole Valley District Council. Retrieved 31 May 2025.
  17. ↑ Van Klaveren, Tom (3 May 2024). "Mole Valley Local Election Results 2024 in full as Lib Dems maintain dominant position". Surrey Live. Retrieved 22 July 2024.
  18. ↑ "The Mole Valley (Electoral Changes) Order 2023", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 2023/49, retrieved 13 January 2024
  19. ↑ "The Surrey (Structural Changes) Order 2026: Article 46", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 2026/264 (art. 46)
  20. ↑ "The war-time library goes up market into mansion". Dorking and Leatherhead Advertiser. 14 February 1986. p. 16. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
  21. ↑ "Dorking". West Sussex Gazette. 10 December 1931. p. 4. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
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