District Council elections on 5th May

Fri 6 May 2011, 12:30

I would like to thank everyone who voted for me in the District Council elections yesterday, and to the many people who supported our campaign. Sadly, Charlbury no longer has two Liberal Democrat councillors, as we lost the seat by 38 votes to the Conservatives. West Oxfordshire District Council now has 44 Conservative members, 4 Liberal Democrat members and one Labour member. Glena Chadwick will continue to represent Charlbury and Finstock as a Liberal Democrat. Thanks to Mike Breakell for serving Charlbury and Finstock so well as our District Councillor for the past 9 years.

Thu 5 May 2011, 12:00

For the avoidance of doubt - the "don't forget to vote" banner on the front page is strictly neutral; it shows up red, blue, yellow and green in equal measure. Refresh and you'll get a different colour. :)

Thu 5 May 2011, 08:45

But they're voting purely on the boundaries / reducing the number of MPs. It was the Tories counter-request when the Lib-Dems insisted on an AV referendun as a pre-requisite for the coalition.

Assuming the MPs vote to reduce the number of MPs, the AV referendum decision is binding. You can bet you're bottom dollar that the LIbDems will vote for the reduction if the result is for AV! So both go through together.

If the AV vote is no, then it is likely the LibDems won't support the MP reduction, and we'll be back at the status quo.

So yes, your vote is necessary, especially if you are minded to viote YES.

Wed 4 May 2011, 15:37

Is it just me, or has anyone else noticed that not one of the parties mentions the fact that your vote for AV is pretty well irrelevant? I've been waiting for someone to mention this somewhere ever since I read the leaflet from the electoral commission

There will be a parliamentary vote on constituency boundaries, and if this is not accepted, then no matter what people vote tomorrow, AV won't happen. So, by the sound of it it's not your choice, it's the government's choice, because most MPs will vote how their party tells them, won't they?

Tue 3 May 2011, 10:28

Christine, yes sadly there isn't alot of information. However, though the election has been known about for some time, the previous candidate who was going to run had to withdraw due to personal issues, so the time between Lesley agreeing to be a candidate and it actually being formalised was less than a month ago. So there has obviously not been a lot of time to get things together including leaflets etc and the only stuff on policy that we did have was more suited to Witney. I would like to assure you, that what could have been done was done, given the circumstances. I hope this explanation makes it clearer for you. So, we can count on your vote ;)

Mon 2 May 2011, 17:18

I think the Greens are concentrating all their effort on a seat in Witney this year so hence the silence. There aren't to many of them active! Oxford is the hotbed of course.

Mon 2 May 2011, 15:35

If any resident would like to display a window poster supporting the Liberal Democrat candidate - Liz Leffman in this weeks District Council Elections, please ring 07812 406827 and give details of your name and address.

Sun 1 May 2011, 12:44

Emily, thank you. But as the profile doesn't say anything about local policies it doesn't help much. In fact, given that the election has been known about for ages, I do find the reasons for the delay in providing a web presence -- let alone a set of policy statements -- hard to understand.

However, at least we now know more about the Labour candidate than the Green candidate who has been both invisible and also silent. As I was very undecided about who to vote for in this election, I'm very disappointed about this.

It would be interesting to know if an AV system would mean that political parties who represent minorities would put more effort in to their election campaigns!

Sun 1 May 2011, 11:30

The Witney Labour website has been updated with the profile of Lesley Algar. Unfortunately, there are no leaflets as it was quite short notice with regard to who was running for Labour. The issue to stress was that there has not been always been a Labour candidate to vote for in the local elections, so many Labour supporters have unfortunately had to vote for an alternative candidate or not vote at all. This time, though the campaign has been thin on the ground, there is a Labour option, which in itself is a big achievement.
We do have a number of Labour posters if anyone does want to show their support!

Tue 12 Apr 2011, 11:59

News Just In: www.witneyclp.org/elections.htm - it's still being updated but it's a start. I'll let you all know when it does get updated and the leaflets are on there way round.

Mon 11 Apr 2011, 13:51

Thanks Chris, the Conservatives, labour or the green party have not been around yet. Very interesting - ref: negative leaflet on voting No! I look forward to seeing what they all have to say! I'll then know who to vote for! Yes, I thought Liz's leaflet was very good too and their Yes, note!

Mon 11 Apr 2011, 12:15

No sure whereabouts you live in Charlbury Charlotte, but we have recieved a number of leaflets regarding the District Council elections already! Last weekend we recieved a really excellent leaflet off Lib Dem Liz Leffman, and a positive leaflet off the "Yes" campaign for the referendum on the voting system. This weekend just gone, we recieved a leaflet off the Conservatives, and a totally negative leaflet from the organisation which is trying to persuade people to vote "No" in the referendum.

Sun 10 Apr 2011, 19:27

On Chipping Norton's forum- it says the same thing and they too - don't know who to vote for either? They too don't know anything about these guys and girls? And.......

Thu 7 Apr 2011, 20:33

Many thanks Chris - for pointing us to the Lib Dem's website. So that's just leaves the shy Conservatives and the Green Party

Thu 7 Apr 2011, 20:14

Charlotte - Looks like Charlbury Lib Dems already have a web site, see details on the community pages.

Thu 7 Apr 2011, 16:44

That's great Emily - a link will be very helpful, to their website. Many thanks for letting us know.

Thu 7 Apr 2011, 15:19

The Labour Party (Lesley Algar) is in the process of setting up a website with regards to the current concerns etc and who the candidates are. I will post the link when the website is ready etc.

Wed 6 Apr 2011, 11:54

I would very much like to hear views from the following candidates, regarding our current concerns, on this forum: Lesley Algar, Hywel Davies & Celia Kerslake. At the moment, I?ve no idea who to vote for?