On Friday, 15th May 2026, Chelgate Local and Vail Williams co-hosted a Local Government and Devolution Breakfast Briefing at Denbies Wine Estate in Dorking, Surrey. The event was chaired by Nick Wood- Dow, deputy lieutenant of Surrey and Chelgate deputy chairman.   Nick Wood-Dow kickstarted the event after 45 attendees enjoyed a sumptuous breakfast buffet. He welcomed the audience to Denbies Wine Estate …

Local elections were held on 8 May, the first real test since the 2024 general election. It was a bruising night for Labour, losing almost 1,500 council seats, and also for the Conservatives, which lost 563 seats. By contract, it was a tumultuous night for Reform UK gaining almost 1,500 …

Despite the number of skyscrapers going up in the City of London, few planning applications have generated as much controversy as the application for 1 Silk Street for a 21-storey, £450 million office block.  The site and proposals   Located next to the Barbican Estate, the proposals have highlighted the clash …

In conjunction with Vail Williams, we are hosting a breakfast briefing in May 2026 on the likely impacts on planning and development in Surrey and Sussex of local government reorganisation and devolution. This will be after the May elections for the two new unitary authorities in Surrey, which will be …

The government is implementing by far the biggest shake-up of local government in over 50 years. The aim is to abolish the two-tier system of county and district councils replacing them instead with larger unitary authorities to combine and deliver all local public services. Before being elected to government in …

National Update.  Economy: Inflation rates – As of 16 April, the national inflation rate was 3%, with the Bank of England (BoE) target being 2%. At its last meeting on 19 March, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) said that the inflation rate was higher than expected due to the Iran …

  Martha Broderick is studying politics at Cornell University in New York State. She joined Chelgate Local for an internship to understand planning and local government in the UK Although I’ve studied politics in the UK for A-level and my degree is in the USA , my experience of it …

National Update Economy: Inflation rates – As of 04/03/26, the inflation rate is 3%, with the Bank of England (BoE) target being 2%. At its last meeting on 05/02/26, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) said that they were expecting inflation ‘to be back to our 2% target this spring’. However, the …