| Election Name: | 2023 Surrey Heath Borough Council election |
| Country: | Surrey |
| Type: | parliamentary |
| Previous Election: | 2019 Surrey Heath Borough Council election |
| Previous Year: | 2019 |
| Next Election: | 2027 Surrey Heath Borough Council election |
| Next Year: | 2027 |
| Seats For Election: | All 35 seats to Surrey Heath Borough Council |
| Majority Seats: | 18 |
| Leader1: | Sashi Mylvaganam |
| Party1: | Liberal Democrats (UK) |
| Last Election1: | 10 seats, 28.6% |
| Seats Before1: | 9 |
| Seats1: | 24 |
| Seat Change1: | 14 |
| Popular Vote1: | 28,416 |
| Percentage1: | 48.8% |
| Swing1: | 20.4% |
| Leader2: | Alan McClafferty[1] |
| Party2: | Conservative Party (UK) |
| Last Election2: | 18 seats, 51.4% |
| Seats Before2: | 18 |
| Seats2: | 6 |
| Seat Change2: | 12 |
| Popular Vote2: | 22,912 |
| Percentage2: | 39.4% |
| Swing2: | 7.4% |
| Party3: | Independent politician |
| Last Election3: | 4 seats, 11.4% |
| Seats Before3: | 5 |
| Seats3: | 3 |
| Seat Change3: | 1 |
| Popular Vote3: | 3,927 |
| Percentage3: | 6.7% |
| Swing3: | 3.7% |
| Party4: | Labour Party (UK) |
| Last Election4: | 1 seat, 2.9% |
| Seats Before4: | 1 |
| Seats4: | 2 |
| Seat Change4: | 1 |
| Popular Vote4: | 2,428 |
| Percentage4: | 4.2% |
| Swing4: | 1.8% |
| Leader5: | Sharon Galliford |
| Party5: | Green Party of England and Wales |
| Last Election5: | 2 seats, 5.7% |
| Seats Before5: | 2 |
| Seats5: | 0 |
| Seat Change5: | 2 |
| Popular Vote5: | 145 |
| Percentage5: | 0.2% |
| Swing5: | 4.7% |
| Leader | |
| Posttitle: | Leader after election |
| Before Election: | Alan McClafferty Conservative |
| Before Party: | No overall control |
| After Election: | David Whitcroft |
| After Party: | Liberal Democrats (UK) |
The 2023 Surrey Heath Borough Council election took place on 4 May 2023 to elect 32 of 35 members of Surrey Heath Borough Council in England.[2] [3] [4] [5] It was held on the same day as other local elections. The Liberal Democrats took control of the council from a minority Conservative administration.[6] [2]
Prior to the election the council was under no overall control, being led by a Conservative minority administration. The election in the Frimley Green ward was postponed until 15 June 2023 following the death of one of the original candidates.[7] [8] Of the seats where elections were held on 5 May, the Liberal Democrats won 21 seats, enough to give them an overall majority on the council for the first time in its history.[9]
The Liberal Democrat group leader before the election, Sashi Mylvaganam, was a candidate in Frimley Green ward and so had to wait until 15 June to see if he would be re-elected. As such, the party chose David Whitcroft instead to be the new leader of the council, being appointed at the subsequent annual meeting of the council on 17 May 2023.[10] The Liberal Democrats won all three seats in the postponed Frimley Green election, with Sashi Mylvaganam returning to the council. The party then reconsidered its leadership, but chose to appoint neither Whitcroft nor Mylvaganam as its leader, appointing instead Shaun Macdonald. He was subsequently confirmed as the new leader of the council on 28 June 2023.[11]
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The results for each ward were:[12]
Following the death of a candidate in Frimley Green ward (three members) the election was countermanded. A poll took place on the 15th June 2023, with Attieh Fard replacing the late Karen Campion.