In May 1997 county council elections were held in England, including those for Surrey County Council. Shown below are the results for the Guildford electoral districts on Surrey County Council.
The county council elections in 1997 were held on the same day as the United Kingdom General Election. This resulted in a higher than normal turnout for a county council election. In 1997, turnout in the Guildford electoral divisions ranged from 67.2% in both the Guildford West and the Horsleys electoral divisions, to 78.7% in the Shere electoral division, whereas in the previous election, in 1993, the lowest turnout had been 33.5% in the Guildford West electoral division and the highest had been 42.3% in the Worplesdon electoral division.
One electoral division changed hands in these elections. The Conservatives gained the Ash electoral division from the Liberal Democrats.
The Conservatives, Labour and the Liberal Democrats each contested all nine electoral divisions. For the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives that was the same number of electoral divisions they had contested in 1993. For Labour that was one more seat than it had contested in 1993. There were two other candidates. A Green Party candidate contested the Guildford North electoral division. An independent, who, at that point in time, was one of the sitting Guildford Borough Council councillors for Ash Vale, contested the Ash electoral division, which included the Ash Vale area.