Photo: Malc McDonald · CC BY-SA 2.0The Liberal Democrats hold a majority on Mole Valley District Council
Dorking is run by Mole Valley District Council and Surrey County Council. The Liberal Democrats have a majority on Mole Valley District Council. The Conservatives have a majority on Surrey County Council. Its MP is Chris Coghlan (Liberal Democrat), member for Dorking and Horley.
£2,509
Band D, a year, the middle band every council sets its tax from.
Where it goes →How Dorking’s politics has changed since 2021
A majority on Mole Valley District Council
The Liberal Democrats hold a majority on Mole Valley District Council: 30 of its 40 seats as elected. Ashtead Independents holds 6, the Conservatives 2. Who’s in charge ↓
Surrey in 2021
Surrey County Council, which runs schools, social care and roads, has a Conservative majority at the May 2021 election: the Conservatives won 41 of 81 seats. Surrey ↓
The 2024 vote
Across Dorking’s wards, the Liberal Democrats took 51.4%, the Conservatives took 18.9% and the Greens took 16.8% of votes in May 2024. In 2023, the Liberal Democrats had 55.3%. How Dorking has voted ↓
Council tax
A Band D bill in Dorking is £2,509 for 2026–27; Mole Valley District Council keeps 9% of it. The council area’s Band D has risen 52% in ten years, against England’s 56%. Council money ↓
Written from the data on this page: Democracy Club results since May 2021, the UK Parliament Members API and MHCLG council tax.
Who holds the seats on Dorking’s councils
Seats by party as elected. A party needs 21 of Mole Valley’s 40 or 41 of Surrey’s 81 seats to run the council alone.
- Liberal Democrat30
- Ashtead Independents6
- Conservative2
Latest election: May 2024.
- Conservative41
- Liberal Democrat19
- Residents Associations of Epsom and Ewell4
- Farnham Residents3
- Independent3
- Green2
- Labour2
- Reform UK2
- Ashtead Independents1
- Nork & Tattenhams Residents' Associations1
- Residents for Guildford and Villages1
- Thames Ditton / Weston Green Residents' Association1
- The Molesey Residents Association1
Latest election: May 2021.
Seats are counted from election results: each ward’s most recent winners until its seats are filled. Councillors who have since changed party or resigned aren’t reflected, and which parties lead the council, and who is leader, comes from the council itself.
Results: Democracy Club (CC BY 4.0), elections since May 2021; seats per ward from its EveryElection.
Two tiers of council, no parish tier
Dorking has two tiers of council: the county runs the big services, the district the local ones.
Bins and recycling, planning, housing, environmental health, leisure, and collecting council tax.
Website ↗Schools, social care, roads and transport, libraries and waste disposal.
Website ↗Who to ask
From GOV.UK’s “Understand how your council works”: in two-tier areas the district or borough runs local services and the county the big ones.
All of Dorking is unparished: there is no parish or town council, so the council runs local matters itself and no parish precept is added to the bill.
Councils from ONS lookups (wards and councils May 2026, parishes 2025), names and websites from GOV.UK’s local council finder; parish councils from MHCLG’s 2026–27 list of precepting parishes.
From the council to Westminster
Every elected tier that speaks for Dorking, from the most recent elections.
- 1Mole Valley District Council3 wards · 9 councillorsLiberal Democrat 10 · all 10
- 2Surrey County Council1 division · 1 councillorStephen John Cooksey
- 3Police and crime commissionerSurrey Police · elected May 2024Lisa Townsend
- 4House of CommonsDorking and Horley
Party colours are neutral on purpose: they tell parties apart and aren’t the parties’ own. Tap an MP’s name for their contact page on parliament.uk.
9 councillors for 3 wards
Wards with at least 2% of the town’s residents, or half their own inside it. Each shows who won its most recent elections, newest first, until its seats are filled.
- Nick WrightLiberal Democrat · May 2024
- Margaret CookseyLiberal Democrat · May 2023
- Stephen John CookseyLiberal Democrat · May 2023
- Elsie RosamLiberal Democrat · May 2024
- Hazel Valerie Ann WatsonLiberal Democrat · May 2023
- David John DraperLiberal Democrat · May 2023
- Bradley Luke NelsonLiberal Democrat · March 2025 · by-election
- Clayton John WellmanLiberal Democrat · May 2024
- Rosemary Margaret HobbsLiberal Democrat · May 2023
- Claire Philomena MalcomsonLiberal Democrat · May 2023
Show as a table, with Surrey County Council’s 1 division (1 councillor)
| Ward | Seats | Elected | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dorking Southall in Dorking · 7,590 residents3 seats · May 2024, May 2023 | 3 | Nick WrightMargaret CookseyStephen John Cooksey | May 2024, May 2023 |
| Dorking Northall in Dorking · 7,066 residents3 seats · May 2024, May 2023 | 3 | Elsie RosamHazel Valerie Ann WatsonDavid John Draper | May 2024, May 2023 |
| Holmwoods & Beare Green45% in Dorking · 2,807 residents3 seats · March 2025, May 2024, May 2023 | 3 | Bradley Luke Nelsonby-electionClayton John WellmanRosemary Margaret HobbsClaire Philomena Malcomson | March 2025, May 2024, May 2023 |
Surrey County Council: county divisions
| Division | Seats | Elected | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dorking South and the Holmwoods EDmostly in Dorking · 17,463 residents1 seat · May 2021 | 1 | Stephen John Cooksey | May 2021 |
Councillors can resign, change party or sit as independents between elections; a by-election winner replaces someone not named here. Mole Valley District Council’s website lists who sits now.
Results from Democracy Club’s candidates database (CC BY 4.0; elections since May 2021) and ward seats from its EveryElection, matched to ONS wards (May 2026) and county divisions (May 2025).
The Liberal Democrats have led every council vote since 2023
Share of all votes cast for candidates in Dorking’s wards at each scheduled council election since 2021. A gap is a year with no election here.
Seats won at each election
Show as a table
| Party | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Green | 21.4% | 16.8% |
| Labour | 2.8% | 10% |
| Liberal Democrat | 55.3% | 51.4% |
| Conservative | 20.6% | 18.9% |
In 2024, the Liberal Democrats won 3 of the 3 seats up in Dorking’s wards.
Results: Democracy Club (CC BY 4.0). Where a ward elects several councillors at once, each voter has that many votes; all of them count here.
Mole Valley council election, May 2024
Results in the wards that make up Dorking, as declared. Percentages are of votes cast for candidates in each ward; where a ward elects several councillors, each voter has that many votes.
3 wards voted. Mole Valley elects a third of its councillors at a time, so a third of the seats were up.
No election is scheduled yet for Dorking’s wards in Democracy Club’s list. Councils publish a notice of election about five weeks before polling day.
Who can I vote for? ↗2,102 votes for candidates
2,391 votes for candidates
1,833 votes for candidates
Candidates and results: Democracy Club (CC BY 4.0), from councils’ declared results; polling dates from Democracy Club’s EveryElection.
Dorking is in Dorking and Horley constituency
The constituency’s MP and the 4 July 2024 general election, the whole constituency’s result (it reaches beyond Dorking).
49,965 votes for candidates · majority 5,391
Liberal Democrat, MP since 4 July 2024.
turnout in July 2024: 49,965 votes from 71,645 registered voters. England: 60%.
Majority 5,391 of 49,965 votes (10.8%): the 205th-narrowest of 543 in England.
MPs and results: UK Parliament Members API (Open Parliament Licence v3.0); constituencies from ONS (2024 boundaries). Percentages are of valid votes; turnout is votes cast over the electorate.
Dorking’s Band D council tax is £2,509 a year
Where a Band D bill goes, what it has cost over the years, and what the councils plan to spend per resident.
Mole Valley District Council keeps £217.59 of a Band D bill (9%); the rest goes to Surrey County Council and the Surrey police and crime commissioner.
Band D since 1993
Mole Valley’s Band D bill has risen 52% in ten years, from £1,657.71 in 2016–17, against England’s average (56%). It was £518.63 in 1993–94.
Your bill by band
A Band D home in the unparished part of Mole Valley, 2026–27, before discounts. The Valuation Office Agency’s band search gives any home’s band.
Surrey’s councils
Average Band D in each council area, 2026–27, parish precepts included. Bars start at £2,300.
Council budgets per resident, 2026–27
Show as a table, with Surrey
| Mole Valley + Surrey | Dorking’s councils | Surrey | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adult social care | £473 | £471 | £487 |
| Children’s social care | £216 | £217 | £290 |
| Roads and transport | £64 | £69 | £41 |
| Housing (not council homes’ rents) | £41 | £30 | £61 |
| Bins, street cleaning, environment | £118 | £128 | £119 |
| Libraries, leisure, culture | £32 | £33 | £44 |
| Planning and development | £24 | £32 | £26 |
| Public health | £42 | £43 | £78 |
| Running the council | £90 | £79 | £59 |
| Other | £0 | £-2 | £19 |
| Total, schools apart | £1,141 | £1,139 | £1,234 |
Net budgeted service spending, MHCLG Revenue Account budget 2026–27, per resident (ONS mid-2025 estimates). Both tiers added: Mole Valley per its residents plus Surrey per the county’s. Schools are left out: academies are paid for directly by government, so council school budgets depend on how many schools have converted. Surrey and England: all their councils together. Police, fire and transport authorities aren’t included.
Band D: MHCLG Band D council tax 2026–27 (each authority’s own figure, excluding parish precepts) and Council Tax statistics for town and parish councils 2026–27; since 1993–94, MHCLG’s area averages including parishes.
Having a say in how Dorking is run
It takes about five minutes online; the deadline is 12 working days before a poll.
gov.uk ↗Type a postcode to write to each of its councillors and its MP.
WriteToThem ↗GOV.UK sends the report to the council that looks after the road.
gov.uk ↗Council and committee meetings are open to the public, with agendas and minutes online.
molevalley.gov.uk ↗Anyone can comment while an application is open for consultation.
molevalley.gov.uk ↗The rules, nomination papers and guidance for council candidates.
Electoral Commission ↗Questions about how Dorking is run
Which council runs Dorking?
The county council runs schools, social care and roads; the district runs bins, planning and housing.
Does Dorking have a town council?
No. Dorking is unparished, so there is no town or parish council and no parish precept.
Who is the MP for Dorking?
Chris Coghlan (Liberal Democrat) is the MP for Dorking and Horley, which covers Dorking.
How many councillors does Dorking have?
9 ward councillors represent Dorking’s 3 wards, and 1 county councillors its county divisions.
When are the next elections in Dorking?
No election is scheduled yet in Democracy Club’s list for Dorking’s wards. The next UK general election must be held by August 2029.
How much is council tax in Dorking?
Band D council tax in Dorking is £2,509 for 2026–27. Your bill depends on your home’s band, from A (6/9 of Band D) to H (18/9).
Who controls Mole Valley District Council?
The Liberal Democrats have a majority: 30 of 40 seats as elected. The council’s website lists who leads it now.
Who controls Surrey County Council?
The Conservatives have a majority: 41 of 81 seats as elected.
Who won the 2024 council election in Dorking?
In Dorking’s wards on 2 May 2024, Liberal Democrat 3 of the 3 seats up. The Liberal Democrats had the largest share of votes, 51.4%.
Sources: ONS ward, county division, parish, constituency lookups (Census 2021 output areas; Open Government Licence v3.0) · GOV.UK local council finder · Democracy Club candidates (CC BY 4.0) and EveryElection · UK Parliament Members API (Open Parliament Licence v3.0) · MHCLG Band D council tax, parish precepts and Revenue Account budgets 2026–27 (OGL v3.0) · ONS mid-2025 population estimates. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.