We're delighted to report that Mark Mills, a gentleman scholar of St Edmund Hall, held the Holywell Ward for the Lib Dems on Thursday 12th on what has to be admitted was a derisorily low turnout of less than 12%. Still, he held it, and just as satisfyingly beat the Tory candidate Mr Sargent who was one of ours until he took Mr Cameron's shilling some time ago.
The full results: Mark Mills (LD) 188 (40.4%)
Paul Sargent (Con) 112 (24.1%)
Sarah Hutchinson (Lab) 93 (20.0%)
Chip Sherwood (Green) 72 (15.5%)
These figures, of course, mean next to nothing; but well done to all our lot involved.
For some reason, I imagine David's words being rattled out from the besieged Town Hall in Oxford on a morse-code machine, or picture Lib Dem activists crouched in darkened wartime campaign rooms trying to tune in to the Leader's thoughts as they crackle over the ether. Appealing images, but hardly apposite!
"I want to add my own thanks on behalf of the LibDem group on the City Council.
"I know how hard many of you worked in the central Oxford wards -- and got some well-deserved results. I personally also met many of you out campaigning in Marston and elsewhere: there we found the going harder but, all the same, your energy and commitment was a real boost to us. Overall, you should pat yourselves on the back for helping us get a net increase in seats -- no mean feat for a party running the city, when it's usual to have
to retrench rather than advance.
"In these elections, the people in retreat were the smaller parties, among whom must be included the Conservatives, who went away empty-handed with Oxford once more a Tory-free zone. That's despite a Tory campaign that was deceitful and unprincipled, for example making claims about the Covered Market which were simply not true: it's not under threat (in fact, it's received £150k recent investment) and rent increases are not being imposed
by the Council (traders and landlord have agreed that any rent rises should be decided by independent arbitration).
"I've been a member of OULD since I came up as an undergraduate, far too many years ago. I can honestly say that OULD seems now to be in the best shape for a long time and that's down to your impressive work. For that, all your city councillors are mightily grateful."
I began totting up the percentages in Oxford's elections as usual, and then rather lost the will to live, or at least to carry on. So what follows is broad-brush stuff. Forgive me!
Oxford is, in so many ways, a bizarre place. It was particularly bizarre on election night: as the rest of the country defenestrated Labour councillors in their hundreds, the good burghers of Oxford were deciding they wanted more of the little swine. The Lib Dems remain the minority administration, headed by our own Dr David George Rundle, but even more precariously than ever. Comparing with the 2004 results, we lost Cowley Marsh, Jericho, Marston and Quarry to Labour, but plucked Iffley Fields and Carfax (lost in a derisory by-election with a 14% turnout three years ago) from the Greens. They, and the Working Class Independents, also suffered, and the Tories continued to hit their brick wall.
This is not a good result for us. It represents a degree of slippage back to the situation we were in over a decade ago, trying to nibble the odd ward away from Labour when we can. It isn't yet a disaster, but we will see what happens when Richard Huzzey's Carfax seat is contested in the upcoming by-election, initiated by his move to a new job. Nevertheless, that things weren't worse represents a great effort on the part of Oxford's Lib Dems, and they should be congratulated for holding on where they have. (However, see David Rundle's remarks above - have I been adding up the seats wrongly?)
OULD's newsletter, Ad Libitum, is now available online courtesy of Jonny Wright, next term's Press & Publicity Officer. Click here to see it (a pdf file, but none the worse for that).
My account of the Oxford elections this year is the first one I've put together under the City's new electoral arrangements. I saw 'new', but they've been in place since 2002! The city is divided into 24 wards, each with two councillors, one of whom comes up for election every two years. So the seats being contested this year are those of the councillors who topped the poll in the first elections four years ago; the anomaly is St Clement's Ward, where both seats were up for election. Another difference from the ancien régime is the splitting of the old Central Ward which we all knew and loved and which covered the better portion of the University, to form Carfax and Holywell: two completely unpredictable wards in the place of one. Until 2008, then, there's some ambiguity over the statement that this party or that has 'won' a ward from someone else. Should we be thinking about the last set of elections, or the elections before last when this particular councillor may have been up for election?
Oxford's elections this year were a mixed bag - though, one way and another, the Lib Dems managed to draw out the sweets. It was a strange evening of ups and downs, and most of the downs were experienced, gratifyingly enough, by the Tories. David Cameron's shiny new-look Conservative Party managed to arrange a 5.6% decline in its support across the city, partly by not putting up candidates in 6 wards. The Tories are second in Littlemore and Headington - much good may it do them considering how far behind they are.
The Greens won a seat in St Clement's from Labour, and triumphed in Iffley Fields too. Their poll in St Mary's was particularly impressive - over 65%. But elsewhere, usually where they aren't in serious contention, their vote slipped back.
The headline, of course, was that Labour had lost its status as biggest party on the Council to the Lib Dems, and the best the local rags could come up with was that it had 'avoided the predicted bloodbath'. But in actual fact, Labour polls were going up in plenty of wards - even in Barton & Sandhills, which we won from them (again, if you use the 2004 results as the comparison)! Our tally of wards won from Labour - Barton, Cowley, and Headington Hill, with one loss to Labour in Cowley Marsh - is pretty good, and has delivered us the leading role in the City Council. But it's based on a marginal turnover in votes. Labour's poll across the city dropped, and ours and the Greens' rose, by less than a single percentage point each.
Oxford politics, then, seems to be particularly confusing at the moment. Seats change hands and the Council changes leadership on very little movement in votes, there are so many parties contesting - now, in east Oxford, including the Independent Working Class Association which holds a couple of seats - that winning majorities can be gained on a third of the poll or less, and the electorate is more volatile than ever. Only the Tories are excluded from this game of political musical-chairs. Look for more change to come!
That said, the three main student wards remained at a standstill. Sushila Dhall succeeded to the late Mike Woodin's seat in Carfax for the Greens; and we held North and Holywell in the victorious forms of Alan Armitage and Richard Huzzey respectively. You will rejoice to hear, too, of the continued presence on the Council of our old friend Dr David Rundle (Christ Church 1986-89), gloriously re-elected as Councillor for Headington.
Click here for the full 2006 results.