Prior to the election Labour had gained one seat from the Conservatives in the Stoke by-election in May 2016, and a total of four councillors had defected from their parties to sit as an Independent Alliance group.

Two Conservative councillors, Tony Rooth (a former council leader) and Bob McShee, defected to sit as independents in May 2018 and were joined by Colin Cross from the Liberal Democrats in November 2018.

A vote on adopting the Local Plan was scheduled by the Conservative administration for 25 April 2019, just one week before the election, attracting criticism from opposition parties who claimed this was a violation of the pre-election "purdah" period.

[13][14] The Liberal Democrats, as the main opposition group, outlined plans to protect the environment, take action on climate change and build more social housing.

In the run up to the election there was media speculation and analysis suggesting that R4GV and the Liberal Democrats had been selective in where they had stood candidates in order to maximise the anti-Conservative vote.

The Independent Alliance registered Residents for Guildford and Villages as a political party to contest the 2019 elections and proceeded to win 15 seats.