Dragon Interview: Council Leader Faces Questions on Leadership and Reorganisation

Published on: 20 Feb, 2026
Updated on: 20 Feb, 2026

Cllr Julia McShane and Martin Giles

Cllr Julia McShane faced 30 minutes of questioning today (February 20) on her leadership of the council, her role as lead councillor for housing and the challenges linked to merging all the councils in West Surrey into a single unitary authority.

Searching questions were asked by the editor of The Guildford Dragon NEWS on her role as the lead councillor for housing and how many council houses had been built on her watch.

Resisting Cllr McShane’s attempts to divert onto the recently issued Corporate Performance Report, which showed many improvements (see: GBC Reports Improvements All Round with Few Red Flags Remaining), Martin Giles moved on to her leadership performance, focusing on changes to the Executive over the last 12 months.

Two Executive members, George Potter and Catherine Houston, were sacked in that period and two senior members, Tom Hunt and Richard Lucas, suddenly resigned, without immediate replacement.

Please do watch the long form 35 minute interview. It is unusual to see a councillor facing the kind of direct, determined questioning we are more used used to seeing in Parliament.

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