Zöe Franklin is the Liberal Democrat MP for Guildford, having first been elected to parliament at the 2024 general election.

In the 2024 general election, Franklin received 22,937 votes (47.5%). The Conservative candidate, Angela Richardson, received 14,508 votes (30.0%), while the Reform UK candidate, Dennis Saunders, secured 4,395 votes (9.1%). Franklin was elected with a majority of 8,429 votes.

The Guildford constituency is located in Surrey, South East England. An ancient constituency first established in 1295, it mostly returned Conservative MPs between 1868 and 2024, with the exception of a Liberal Democrat MP from 2001 to 2005.

Franklin’s immediate predecessor as the MP for Guildford was Angela Richardson of the Conservative Party. Richardson held the seat from 2019 to 2024.

Political Career

Franklin currently serves on the Liberal Democrat frontbench as local government spokesperson. She was appointed to this role in September 2025.

Franklin has sat as a member of the House of Commons culture, media and sport committee (2024-2025).

Franklin is listed as a member of the all-party parliamentary groups (APPGs) for faith and society chair), music and refugees.

Franklin delivered her maiden speech on 11 September 2024 during a debate on building safety and resilience.

In it, she said: “As an MP, I am especially committed to addressing the cost of living crisis that continues to push too many people into poverty, trapped by a crisis not of their own making. We must lift people out of hardship, ensuring that everyone has access to the services they need, without draining their pockets…

“I am sure that colleagues throughout the chamber will agree that the fact that over 3 million people across the UK rely on Trussell Trust food banks alone in 2023-24 is a disgrace. It is a blight on our country and it must end.”

She added: “I first stood for elected office in 2008, driven by a love for my community and a deep frustration that my area of Bellfields and Slyfield was being failed by the Conservatives… Some 16 years later, I am here in this chamber because of my frustration following 14 years of Conservative failure that has, once again, left communities across Guildford and the whole country struggling…

“It is my sincere hope that together in this chamber, over the coming years, we can create a symphony of voices, change the divisive rhetoric of the last few years and restore public trust in politics and politicians. If we do not, I worry about the future we leave for future generations.”

Before entering parliament, Franklin served as a Liberal Democrat councillor on Guildford Borough Council from 2008 to 2015.

She stood unsuccessfully as the Liberal Democrat candidate for Guildford in the 2017 and 2019 general elections.

Political Views

The Liberal Democrats (or Lib Dems) are a liberal political party, occupying the centre to centre-left ground in British politics.

The preamble to the Lib Dem constitution begins: “The Liberal Democrats exist to build and safeguard a fair, free and open society, in which we seek to balance the fundamental values of liberty, equality and community, and in which no-one shall be enslaved by poverty, ignorance or conformity.”

The Liberal Democrat autumn conference in 2021 ratified a policy paper entitled What Liberal Democrats Believe. The paper, an attempt to expand on the constitution’s preamble, was framed around seven “principles and values”.

The party’s core values were described as “liberty, equality, democracy, community, internationalism and environmentalism.”

Franklin is a member of the Green Liberal Democrats, an official environmental group within the Liberal Democrats. It aims to “promote a green approach to policy formation within the Liberal Democrats” and “develop links with the wider green movement.” The grouping, formed in 1977 as a faction within the Liberal Party, is “committed to a net-zero and nature positive future and driving ambition across the national party and in local governance.”

Franklin is listed as a member of the all-party parliamentary group (APPG) for fair elections – a cross-party group of MPs and peers that campaigns for electoral reform. The group’s stated aims include replacing the first past the post (FPTP) voting system with a form of proportional representation, eliminating “dark money” and “undemocratic influence” from politics, and countering disinformation.

In December 2024, Franklin voted in favour of the Elections (Proportional Representation) Bill – introduced by Liberal Democrat frontbencher Sarah Olney under the 10-minute rule procedure. The bill sought to “introduce a system of proportional representation for parliamentary elections and for local government elections in England”.

A total of 138 MPs supported the bill – with 136 opposed. Notably, 59 Labour MPs backed Olney’s bill.

Introducing the bill, Olney told the House: “First past the post is a broken and unfair system. This summer, the Labour party won a landslide election victory, securing 63% of seats in the House of Commons in return for just 34% of the vote.

“The system leaves millions of voices unheard and creates a divisive, adversarial political climate where collaboration is discouraged and accountability is often sidestepped.”

Brexit and Europe

Customs union vote (2025): In December 2025, Franklin voted in favour of the UK-EU Customs Union (Duty to Negotiate) Bill. The bill, introduced under the 10-minute rule procedure by Liberal Democrat Europe spokesperson Al Pinkerton, sought to mandate the government to enter into negotiations with the European Union to establish a bespoke customs union. In total, 13 Labour MPs joined the Liberal Democrats in supporting the motion, while the majority of the party abstained.

Assisted dying

Franklin voted in favour of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, better known as the assisted dying bill, at both second reading (November 2024) and third reading (June 2025).

In June 2025, Franklin said the bill was “safe, compassionate and careful” and did not conflict with her Christian religion.

She told Premier Christian News: “I know that many struggle to understand how, as a Christian, I can support assisted dying, but I do not see a conflict.

“God is the God of compassion, and I do not believe that He is content with the current situation where people suffer in pain, unable to choose to end that pain if they wish to. Nor do I believe He is content with the inequality currently that someone may choose assisted death as a resident of the UK only if they can afford to travel to Dignitas.”

Social values and conscience issues

Abortion decriminalisation (2025): Franklin voted in favour of a backbench amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill that sought to decriminalise abortion in England and Wales in June 2025. The amendment, which was passed by a majority of 242 votes, removed women from the threat of prosecution for ending a pregnancy at any stage. As an issue of conscience, MPs were allowed to vote according to their personal beliefs.

Before Politics

Born on 1 June 1981, Franklin grew up in Farnham, Surrey. She attended Hale Middle School, Farnham Heath End School and Alton College.

Franklin moved to Guildford in 1999 to study music at the University of Surrey, graduating in 2002. She subsequently gained a master of musicology from the University of Southampton in 2005.

She worked as a music support assistant at Surrey County Arts and later as temporary director of the Liberal Democrat Christian Forum in 2007. She was a constituency organiser for the Guildford Liberal Democrats from 2008 to 2010.

Personal Life

Franklin lives in her Guildford constituency. She is married and has two children.

Franklin is a Christian.

Trivia

Franklin has said she joined the Liberal Democrats after experiencing “a bit of a quarter-life crisis where I had my political awakening.”