Letter: Zöe Franklin’s Vote Share Increased

Published on: 11 Jul, 2024
Updated on: 11 Jul, 2024

From: Catherine Houston

Lib Dem borough councillor for Shalford

There is some data missing from the opinion piece No One Can Control a Tide – But How Will the Waves Affect Guildford? on the recent General Election in the Guildford constituency so it does not give the full picture.

Constituency boundary changes since 2019 have meant that the 2024 Guildford constituency is different in shape and size to the 2019 Guildford constituency and includes different territories, having removed the Bramley, Wonersh, Shamley Green and Cranleigh villages and added Effingham, the Horsleys, Clandon, Send, Ripley and Ockham.

In 2019 the electorate was 77,683 with a turnout of 75.5 per cent (58,651 voted).

In 2024 the electorate was 70,708 with a reduced turnout of 68.3 per cent (48,294 voted).

Despite that boundary change and reduction in both electorate and turnout, Zöe Franklin, our new MP, may well have received approximately the same number of votes in the two elections, but her vote share jumped from 39.2 per cent in 2019 to 47.5 per cent in 2024 – quite an achievement, and a testament to the candidate and her party.