Letter: Waverley Conservatives Are Delighted with Farnham Residents’ Decision

Published on: 24 Feb, 2026
Updated on: 24 Feb, 2026

Waverley Borough Council. Chris Caulfield

From Jane Austin

leader of Waverley Conservative Council Group

Waverley Conservatives are delighted to see the Farnham Residents group finally break away from the Liberal Democrat administration at Waverley – a move we believe was long overdue. We also welcome Independent Cllr Maxine Gale’s decision to join the official opposition.

The direction and leadership of the Liberal Democrat administration under Lib Dem leader Paul Follows has strained relationships across the council, within recent months former Green and other political allies removing themselves from the collapsed ‘Compass Group’ alliance.

We can understand why; in the last six months alone, councillors have been asked to wave through £7 million in cost overruns and back costly vanity projects such as 69 High Street in Godalming.

In Farnham, businesses have seen promised support during the Farnham Infrastructure Programme works quietly dropped by the Lib Dems, while parking charges are hiked yet again.

This breakaway is a further indictment of the Liberal Democrats’ actions – they are not delivering a well-run council focused on financial discipline. Instead, we see the political Executive operating as an echo chamber, failing to reflect the concerns of councillors and the communities we represent.

We will continue to scrutinise the administration robustly and hold the Liberal Democrat leadership to account on poor financial management and major decision-making – and we hope the Farnham Residents will do the same.