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Election: Full picture in Oxford
2:27am Friday 2nd May 2008
Labour has taken control of Oxford City Council after a hugely successful election night.
Although the party suffered losses at town halls up and down the country, there was no sign of a bloody nose in Oxford where the party strengthened its position, gaining four seats.
Oxford is still effectively in limbo, with no one group in overall control, but Labour - by virtue of the fact the group has the largest number of councillors - will form a minority administration, taking control for the first time since 2006.
It was an agonising one seat short of a majority.
For the Liberal Democrats, the night marked a miserable end to a controversial two-year stint in charge of the authority, during which four councillors defected from their ranks and dissent grew over their handling of waste collection rounds.
The evening was no better for the Tories, who started with two councillors but finished with none.
Conservative group leader Paul Sargent he lost his Carfax seat to Lib Dem newcomer Stephen Brown, while his colleague Tia MacGregor lost her Quarry and Risinghurst seat to Labour's Laurence Baxter.
The Tories have now failed to return a single city councillor since Barbara Burgess was elected in Marston in 2000.
In a bombshell result, Independent Working Class Association councillor Lee Cole lost his Blackbird Leys seat to Labour's Val Smith - the wife of Oxford East MP Andrew Smith - by a massive 230 votes.
Fellow IWCA councillor Claire Kent was booted out of her Churchill seat by Labour's Mark Lygo.
IWCA leader Stuart Craft won his Northfield Brook seat - but refused to shake Labour rival Richard Stevens' hand after the result was declared.
Lib Dem Caroline van Zyl lost to Labour's Beverley Hazzell in Marston, but the group did have something to shout about in Holywell, where Nathan Pyle took the seat from the Greens.
Defeat in Cowley Marsh was particularly bitter for the Lib Dems.
Saj Malik, who quit the group to join Labour, defeated Tony Brett in his own back yard - and then held up a placard proclaiming "Fib Dems - Losing Here".
Turnout was 32.6 per cent across the city.
Before last night's elections the city council was made up of 19 Labour councillors; 15 Liberal Democrats; eight Greens; four Independent Working Class Association and two Conservative.
But after all votes were counted and verified at the Town Hall in the small hours, the new council looked like this: * Labour - 23 * Liberal Democrats - 16 * Greens - 7 * Independent Working Class Association - 2 * Conservatives - 0 Labour leader Bob Price said: "We are going to be the administration.
"We are delighted with the results - it shows the two years the Lib Dems have run the city have been a disaster and we really need to build back the city and make it a good place to live.
"We will be putting more money into recycling, play areas and leisure centres.
"It is interesting to know the Tories are still without a seat in the city."
Your Say YourOxford
Machlieod-O'hOg'ai
n, abingdon says...
4:17am Fri 2 May 08
concerned resident of woodfarm, woodfarm says...
6:49am Fri 2 May 08
bob, Oxford says...
7:30am Fri 2 May 08
concerned resident of woodfarm wrote:Evidently not according to the electorates opinion...
woodfarm is f****d without claire kent....shes the only councillor that bothered with their ward..
Jon Rees, Donnington, Oxford says...
7:52am Fri 2 May 08
Andrew, Oxford says...
8:04am Fri 2 May 08
They didn't bother collecting from one of my recycle boxes this week - I had to burn the contents last night in order that I've got somewhere to put the rubbish for the next fortnight.
Worried, says...
8:19am Fri 2 May 08
It's a shame that voters failed to see the Labour have ruined Oxford and the LibDems have been unable to change much because of Labours fiscal mismanagement.
On a wider basis, Labour have been putting in place policies aimed at making low paid workers lives more difficult.
This election has been a great case of turkeys voting for Christmas.
My own hard working councillor has been replaced by an inexperienced Labour member and this is depressing as it will take time for the new councillor to get up to speed, and Labour are renowned for rubber stamping all developers plans, even those which do not serve the publics interests.
I can't wait to see how much more I'm going to have to pay under Labour.
Prozac anyone?
Smithy, Woodfarm says...
8:19am Fri 2 May 08
Jongo, Oxon says...
8:20am Fri 2 May 08
I doubt it!
worried, says...
8:26am Fri 2 May 08
Andrew wrote:They're not.
When do the weekly refuse collections start? They didn't bother collecting from one of my recycle boxes this week - I had to burn the contents last night in order that I've got somewhere to put the rubbish for the next fortnight.
Are people really that stupid? The 2 weekly collections were a Labour Policy that the LibDems inherited!!!
Get a grip.
Phil Gale, Oxford says...
8:43am Fri 2 May 08
How very depressing.
Sherlock, Oxford says...
9:00am Fri 2 May 08
Worried, says...
9:13am Fri 2 May 08
Tony is probably keeping a low profile right now.
Worried, says...
9:13am Fri 2 May 08
Tony is probably keeping a low profile right now.
Ed, Oxford says...
9:15am Fri 2 May 08
utting types we see in Westminster.
Let's hope they use their power wisely and to the benefit of Oxford, not their bank balances.
You are being watched.
Was Jean Fooks up for election? If so, please tell me she was defeated?
Worried, says...
9:15am Fri 2 May 08
Tony is keeping a low profile today it would seem.
DanOxford, says...
9:39am Fri 2 May 08
Jon Rees wrote:Oh I'm sure the combined Lefties/ Greens will combine to set the UK back 200 years to a pre- industrial era- and tax us for the priviledge.
I do hope keen cyclist Bob Price's Labour City Council will show its support for increased Cycling provision in Oxford, and work sensibly with the Greens, Cyclox and the grassroots "20mph's Plenty" campaign to make the city more sustainable, using their excellent knowledge base and advisory capability on all things environmental. The city centre developments must support cycle parking in a very big way - not as a peripheral after-thought...
Great news for single, childless, locally (or not at all) employed East Oxford residents, bad news for the disabled, people with children, anyone who lives outside the ring road and anyone whose idea of fun isn't sitting around in candlelight telling stories to their children about the annual pilgrimage to the market to trade chickens for basic hand tools.
Rob, Cowley says...
9:45am Fri 2 May 08
alan page, says...
10:14am Fri 2 May 08
DanOxford wrote:Oh and not forgetting a legal drugs market.
Jon Rees wrote: I do hope keen cyclist Bob Price's Labour City Council will show its support for increased Cycling provision in Oxford, and work sensibly with the Greens, Cyclox and the grassroots "20mph's Plenty" campaign to make the city more sustainable, using their excellent knowledge base and advisory capability on all things environmental. The city centre developments must support cycle parking in a very big way - not as a peripheral after-thought...Oh I'm sure the combined Lefties/ Greens will combine to set the UK back 200 years to a pre- industrial era- and tax us for the priviledge. Great news for single, childless, locally (or not at all) employed East Oxford residents, bad news for the disabled, people with children, anyone who lives outside the ring road and anyone whose idea of fun isn't sitting around in candlelight telling stories to their children about the annual pilgrimage to the market to trade chickens for basic hand tools.
It is hilarious that points based on historical research and evidence are seized upon by the historical perpetrators and turned round.
Please elaborate and cite specific cases, I'mre we will be most interested.
Concerned Cabby, Cowley says...
10:15am Fri 2 May 08
Concerned Cabby, Cowley says...
10:17am Fri 2 May 08
Concerned Cabby, Cowley says...
10:19am Fri 2 May 08
Mr Ison, England says...
10:45am Fri 2 May 08
Davd Hearn, Oxford says...
10:50am Fri 2 May 08
Smithy wrote:Having gone to many public sessions & watched councillors as a resident and tenant, I'd assure Wood Farmers that in CK they could hardly have won a more committed and active representative. NuLab will just continue to "go lie", as it has nationally. I hope Claire will stand again, and wish her & the IWCA their deserved success.
Good riddance Claire Kent, she's all image & broken promises, can't see Lygo doing a better job myself, but ANYONE is better than she. Funny, the "concerned resident of woodfarm" comments were written at 6:49am, is that you Claire? Haha!!
Andrew, Oxford says...
11:08am Fri 2 May 08
Ed wrote:
Shame Labour got in but with any luck these aren't the tax-hiking-service-c utting types we see in Westminster. Let's hope they use their power wisely and to the benefit of Oxford, not their bank balances. You are being watched. Was Jean Fooks up for election? If so, please tell me she was defeated?
Jean "Filthy" Fooks isn't back up for election until 2010...
She can accept personal responsibility for the disgusting state of Oxford streets and the loss of lib-dem seats in Ox.
Mr Ison, England says...
11:25am Fri 2 May 08
Any arrests for box stuffing?
Brenda Jarvis, says...
12:04pm Fri 2 May 08
Peter Lawrence, Oxford says...
12:57pm Fri 2 May 08
I think you might have your own axe to grind, Brenda. And no, I didn't vote Labour...
Tony Brett, Oxford says...
3:13pm Fri 2 May 08
I definitely will not be giving up on my community though, even though I did not win the council seat. The election was not about me, it was about wanting to serve my own community. If it would prefer someone else on the council then so be it. That's what democracy is about.
Just one correction: Stephen Brown who won Carfax back for the LibDems is not a newcomer. He represented North Ward on the City Council for quite a few years earlier this decade.
pussycat, woodfarm says...
3:18pm Fri 2 May 08
Neil, Oxford says...
3:43pm Fri 2 May 08
The result in Jean Fooks' ward was the best Lib Dem result of the night.
As for taking responsibility for the lib Dem losses - well they lost one seat but gained two others so are one up overall.
OX Man,, oxford says...
3:59pm Fri 2 May 08
People of Oxford should not listen to these tricks of election wining,
Patrick D, Wood Farm says...
4:20pm Fri 2 May 08
concerned resident of woodfarm wrote:The only time she seemed to do anything in the last 2 years was to come round with a load of her cronies a few weeks before the election who came from god knows where
woodfarm is f****d without claire kent....shes the only councillor that bothered with their ward..
Tony Brett, Oxford says...
4:54pm Fri 2 May 08
Sherlock wrote:I'm flattered Sherlock, I think, but I NEVER post here as anyone except myself.
Judging by the writing style and what is being said, I deduce that "Worried" posting above is none other than the normally very active and very vocal Tony Brett. (If not, where are you Tony, we need your opinions)
Ed, Oxford says...
5:52pm Fri 2 May 08
Ox Man: It was the sheer arrogance of the LibDem councillors whilst dealing with complaints about fortnightly collections that stopped people voting LibDem.
Happy cabbie, oxford says...
6:07pm Fri 2 May 08
Concerned Cabby wrote:yes, but hah ha, they wont de-restrict now will they. Majority now?
I have noticed ex Lib Dem councilors who are connected with the taxi trade in Oxford have recently switched sides to Labour --- could this be their way of trying to influence the councils decision on about de-restricting taxi numbers in Oxford?
David Hearn., Oxford says...
6:24pm Fri 2 May 08
Any sane person now loathes NuLab as much as most of us still hate Thatcherism, which is perversely NuLab's philosophical parent.
If your local councillor is sound, yet has not yet quit the NuLab sinking ship, that's their choice or mistake. This applies in my ward.
We need'nt be surprised that Oxford bucks a national trend. It is, after all, famous as the HOME of lost causes. New Labour is just another.
j adams, says...
6:50pm Fri 2 May 08
Mr Ison, England says...
7:47pm Fri 2 May 08
Roger, East Oxford says...
11:58pm Fri 2 May 08
Neil wrote:Perfectly true. It's strange how the cookie has crumbled, but it has crumbled. I can't wait to find out who the new Jean Fooks will be. That is a poisoned chalice !
Ed & Andrew,
The result in Jean Fooks' ward was the best Lib Dem result of the night.
As for taking responsibility for the lib Dem losses - well they lost one seat but gained two others so are one up overall.
Worried, says...
5:29am Sat 3 May 08
David Hearn. wrote:It'd be nice to imagine that is true, but one of the busiest councillors working hard for residents in Oxford lost the seat to a newbie.
Local elections are really less about party line, IMHO, and more about the vim and vigour of individuals who are standing, especially where they\'ve done a good job representing and getting jobs done by the council for the voters. Any sane person now loathes NuLab as much as most of us still hate Thatcherism, which is perversely NuLab\'s philosophical parent. If your local councillor is sound, yet has not yet quit the NuLab sinking ship, that\'s their choice or mistake. This applies in my ward. We need\'nt be surprised that Oxford bucks a national trend. It is, after all, famous as the HOME of lost causes. New Labour is just another.
Labour fought the election by avoiding drawing attention to the fact they are part of a party pressuring the working classes into increasing levels of poverty. Only Oxford seems to have entirely missed the point.
Arfan Ahmed, says...
12:21pm Sat 3 May 08
Can he really stand for Elections, or even cast a vote?
Any Answers any one
Mr Ison, England says...
8:27pm Sat 3 May 08
They beak the law to appeal to immigrants,i can only imagine the Muslim vote comes from a genocidal faction of that err,religion.
We really have no use for asylum seekers seizing the means of taxation or the means of spending it.
When was the last time you saw an Englishman as local or national politician in the immigrant nations?
Ahmed, cowley says...
1:49pm Sun 4 May 08
Arfan Ahmed, oxford says...
2:17pm Sun 4 May 08
Neil, Oxford says...
4:55pm Sun 4 May 08
The Lib Dems won 8 seats to Labour's 12 and 25% of the vote to Labour's 34% across the City.
Not a bad result overall and certainly not a Labour landslide.
Mr Ison, England says...
8:18pm Sun 4 May 08
Will they be cuffed and stuffed or will they promise not to do it next time,like last time and the time before.
Beheading is a viable and culturally fiting solution to the problem they pose.
Ahmed, cowley says...
1:01pm Mon 5 May 08
Concerned Cabby, Cowley says...
12:16pm Fri 23 May 08
Happy cabbie wrote:Just proves how corrupt the "democratic" process is !!! Lib dem councilor swap over to Labour only to blackmail and to influence the councils decision on taxi deregulation - Meaning the council couldn't care any less about public interest or opinion.
Concerned Cabby wrote:yes, but hah ha, they wont de-restrict now will they. Majority now?
I have noticed ex Lib Dem councilors who are connected with the taxi trade in Oxford have recently switched sides to Labour --- could this be their way of trying to influence the councils decision on about de-restricting taxi numbers in Oxford?
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sl, cowley says...
2:53am Fri 2 May 08