The seat was created in
1950 from the
county constituencies of
Chertsey and lightly populated parts of
Farnham. Prior to 2024, and with exceptions only in 1974 (February election), 1997, 2005 and 2010, this constituency returned a
Conservative with majorities exceeding 15% of votes cast. At the 2015 and 2017 general elections, the Labour candidates polled in second place, whereas in
2019 the Lib Dem candidate did so. Until the election of 2024, similar second place results had been emulated locally eight and nine times respectively by Labour and the Lib Dems. A Conservative win by 11.2% of the vote in 1997 was a notably
marginal result. By contrast, at the 2015 general election the seat was the 41st-safest of the Conservative Party's 331 seats by percentage of majority, 40 percentage points ahead of Labour. By 2024, the Liberal Democrats had a very sizeable majority on Woking Borough Council and there were no Conservative councillors left on the authority, although historically the Conservatives had been the dominant force on the council, with only the Canalside ward (containing the district of
Sheerwater) that often returns Labour councillors. Local Conservatives won the previously relevant (Guildford Council) wards of Pirbright and Normandy over many election cycles, but these two villages were transferred to the Surrey Heath constituency from 2024 onwards following boundary changes. ==Boundaries==