Runnymede Independent Residents' Group (RIRG) is a

residents association A neighborhood association (NA) is a group of residents or property owners who advocate to organize activities within a neighborhood. An association may have elected leaders and voluntary dues. Some neighborhood associations in the United State ...

and

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

based in the

Borough of Runnymede The Borough of Runnymede is a local government district with borough status in Surrey, England. Its council is based in Addlestone and the borough also includes the towns of Chertsey and Egham. The borough is named after Runnymede, a water me ...

. It currently forms part of the administration of Runnymede Borough Council with Labour, Liberal Democrats, Greens and independents; one of its councillors, Linda Gillham, serves as co-leader of the council.

History

The group was founded in 2001. They have consistently held six seats on the borough council since then. The group has campaigned on issues including recycling and the building of an

incinerator Incineration is a list of solid waste treatment technologies, waste treatment process that involves the combustion of substances contained in waste materials. Industrial plants for waste incineration are commonly referred to as waste-to-ene ...

. RIRG was the sole opposition to the

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

administration on the borough council from

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

to 2013, when

Ukip The UK Independence Party (UKIP, ) is a Eurosceptic, right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. The party reached its greatest level of success in the mid-2010s, when it gained two Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), member ...

and an independent both won by-elections. This was the case again from

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

, when Labour and Independent councillors were elected. After the

2024 Runnymede Borough Council election The 2024 Runnymede Borough Council election took place on 2 May 2024 to elect one-third of members of the Runnymede Borough Council in Surrey, England. This was on the same day as other 2024 United Kingdom local elections, local elections in Eng ...

, the party had six seats and the council was under

no overall control In the context of local authorities in the United Kingdom no overall control (NOC; ) is a situation in which no single political group achieves a majority of seats, comparable to a hung parliament. Of the 248 councils who had members up for elec ...

. RIRG joined Labour, the Liberal Democrats, Greens, and three independents to control the council, with the four party leaders would all serve as co-leader of the council. They said that this was the first arrangement of its kind in England. It also marked the first time since the council's creation in 1974, that it was not led by the Conservatives. In February 2025, one of the party's councillors, Sam Jenkins, was expelled from the RIRG after abstaining on a vote and subsequently joined the Conservatives. This left RIRG with five remaining councillors.{{Cite web , date=2025-02-26 , title=Egham councillor Sam Jenkins joins the Conservatives , url=https://www.runnymedeweybridgeconservatives.com/news/egham-councillor-sam-jenkins-joins-conservatives , access-date=2025-04-25 , website=Runnymede & Weybridge , language=en

References

Local government in Surrey Borough of Runnymede Locally based political parties in England