See Guildford

Guildford

Guildford is the county town of Surrey. England, as well as the seat for the borough of Guildford and the administrative headquarters of the South East England region...

 for the town in Surrey

Guildford (borough) is a local government district

Non-metropolitan district

Non-metropolitan districts, or colloquially shire districts, are a type of local government district in England. As created, they are sub-divisions of non-metropolitan counties in a so-called "two-tier" arrangement...

 with borough

Borough

A borough is an administrative division in various countries. In principle, the term borough designates a self-governing township although, in practice, official use of the term varies widely....

 status in Surrey

Surrey

Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. It is named after Guildford

Guildford

Guildford is the county town of Surrey. England, as well as the seat for the borough of Guildford and the administrative headquarters of the South East England region...

 where its council is based.

The district was formed on 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972

Local Government Act 1972

The Local Government Act 1972 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974....

, as a merge of the municipal borough

Municipal borough

Municipal boroughs were a type of local government district which existed in England and Wales between 1835 and 1974, in Northern Ireland from 1840 to 1973 and in the Republic of Ireland from 1840 to 2002...

 of Guildford

Guildford

Guildford is the county town of Surrey. England, as well as the seat for the borough of Guildford and the administrative headquarters of the South East England region...

, and Guildford Rural District.

The 5 May 2011 borough elections produced 34 Conservative

Conservative Party (UK)

The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...

 seats, 12 Liberal Democrat

Liberal Democrats

The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...

 seats and 2 Labour

Labour Party (UK)

The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...

 seats.

The central 'Guildford Town' area of the borough comprises the town centre and immediately surrounding areas, including: Bellfields

Bellfields

Bellfields is a suburb in the north of Guildford, Surrey lying adjacent to Slyfield Industrial Estate and Stoughton. The area includes a council estate...

, Boxgrove, Onslow Village

Onslow Village

Onslow Village is the name given to a suburb on the western outskirts of Guildford. It is sandwiched between the A3 road and A31 road and consists of a number of residential streets, many of which are characterised by beech hedges...

, Park Barn

Park Barn Estate

The Park Barn Estate is a housing estate in Guildford, Surrey, England. It is bordered to the south by the Guildford to Reading railway line, the east by the A3 and Woodbridge Hill, the north by the Aldershot Road and Rydeshill, and the west by Broadstreet Common. The Surrey Advertiser...

, Stoughton, Westborough, and the (former) villages of Burpham

Burpham, Surrey

Burpham is a suburb of Guildford, a town in Surrey, England. It includes George Abbot School, a parade of small shops, and the nationally recognised Sutherland Memorial Park...

, and Merrow

Merrow, Surrey

The village of Merrow, in Surrey, England, lies on the north-east corner of Guildford. It is about two miles from the town centre, right on the edge of the ridge of hills that forms the North Downs. Although now a relatively anonymous suburb, the village can trace its origins back many hundreds of...

.

Apart from the town of Guildford, the rest of the borough is divided into civil parishes: