Meet the Mayor of Farnham

The mayor acts as an ambassador for Farnham, promoting and upholding the character of the town, supporting community groups and projects.

The mayor is Farnham’s first citizen. Town councillors elect the town mayor annually. The mayor-making ceremony takes place in early May at the first meeting of the council year. The mayor is elected to office for one year.

The mayor chairs the town’s Council meetings and represents the town at civic and ceremonial functions. During the mayoral year, the mayor will attend around 300 engagements.

A letter from the Mayor about his charity appeal

Dear Farnham Community,

As my Mayoral year has progressed, I have had a chance to meet many of our community organisations that help make Farnham a supporting environment for many who are in need. I have refined my community project, for my mayoral year, to support our young people in Farnham who are attending College or University.

Many students will be living away from their family unit for the first time. This can be a time of anxiety for these students whilst they re-establish friendships to settle into their new surroundings, their wellbeing can be compromised, and they can feel insecure and vulnerable. Similarly, those at college will be striving to achieve the necessary qualifications to go to a university of their choice or vocational studies

Farnham College and the Farnham Campus of the University for the Creative Arts being the two main centres of further and higher education in Farnham.

I wish to promote a path to encourage these students to engage with our community, to have a voice and experience the amazing resource of our wonderful community support groups. This builds on the work that the town Council has undertaken in recent years to help make our younger people more involved in the wider community.

My charity appeal will therefore support student welfare and wellbeing projects within the community. I hope you can embrace this with me and help our younger people connect with each other and others to make the most of being part of our wonderful community.

With kind regards

The Mayor of Farnham

Councillor Graham White

Councillor Graham White, Mayor of Farnham 2026/27

Councillor Graham White was born in Broadbridge Heath near Horsham, Sussex, in 1952. Early childhood memories are of a happy family upbringing with frequent trips to Grandparents in Sussex and Kent and wonderful summer holidays in Pembrokeshire.

After attending the Winston Churchill School in Woking, he studied Building Construction and Civil Engineering in Guildford and London before beginning his career with a major London civil engineering contractor as a measurement engineer.

His early professional work included the London Bridge redevelopment project (where he met the then Lord Mayor of London) and tunnel engineering work on what is now the Jubilee Line. He later spent three years in Abu Dhabi working on a major container port development before returning to the UK and establishing a successful career in the lighting industry.

In 1999, Graham founded his own Lighting Consultancy business, which he led until his retirement in 2025.

Graham is married to his wife Judy, and between them they have four children — Ben, Dominic, Nicole and Cassie — and five grandchildren, with another granddaughter expected in 2026.

A keen traveller with a strong interest in people and communities, Graham enjoys learning about life in different towns and countries. His practical approach, curiosity, and enthusiasm for solving problems have shaped both his professional and public service careers.

Graham was elected to both Farnham Town Council and Waverley Borough Council in 2023, serving as Leader of Farnham Town Council for two years and Deputy Mayor for the past year.

Graham describes serving the community as a councillor as “an extraordinary privilege” and is passionate about helping identify where support and action are most needed across the community. He acknowledges the unique heritage and traditions of Farnham which he has grown to love over the past 14 years and is looking forward with great enthusiasm to serve the people of Farnham as Mayor in the year ahead.