# The Surrey (Structural Changes) Order 2026, Article 45: Surrey County Council and councillors of that Council


(1) Notwithstanding section 7(1) of the 1972 Act (elections of councillors)—
(a) an ordinary election is not to be held in 2026 for the return of councillors to the county council;
(b) the term of office of councillors serving as councillors of the county council ends on 1st April 2027.
(2) Subject to paragraph (3), nothing in section 89 of the 1972 Act (filling of casual vacancies in case of councillors) authorises the holding of an election to fill a casual vacancy in the office of councillor of the county council where that vacancy arises after 30th September 2026 and before 1st April 2027.
(3) Where, on the occurrence of a vacancy mentioned in paragraph (2), or the occurrence of a number of simultaneous such vacancies, the total number of unfilled vacancies in the membership of the county council exceeds one third of the whole number of members of that council, an election to fill such vacancy or vacancies must be held in accordance with section 89 of the 1972 Act.
(4) Where, in the circumstances mentioned in paragraph (3), the declaration mentioned in section 89(1)(a) of the 1972 Act is made, or the notice in writing mentioned in section 89(1)(b) of the 1972 Act is given, within the period of thirty-five days ending with 1st April 2027, computed in accordance with section 243(4) of the 1972 Act (timing of elections), an election must not be held and any proceedings required by the Local Elections (Principal Areas) (England and Wales) Rules 2006 must not be commenced.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2026/264/article/45 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/surrey-structural-changes-order-2026/article-45
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.