Oxford City Council leaders to continue manifesto delivery

Labour councillor Susan Brown has spoken out after suggestions of a ‘shake-up’ in the political map of Oxford after recent elections.

Results saw The Independent Oxford Alliance Party (IOA), an anti-LTN party which formed in November, gained four seats in Rose Hill & Iffley, Littlemore, Cowley and Lye Valley wards.

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Labour lost the Littlemore ward after IOA candidate Anna Stares beat the Labour incumbent Sandy Douglas.

There were also losses in other wards to IOA candidates following the resignation of councillors from the party over Sir Keir Starmer's rhetoric around Gaza as well as the unsuccessful candidacy of a new Labour candidate for Lye Valley.

Labour ended the day with 11 seats which means they now have 20 overall but saw several seats lost for the party.

Cllr Brown, who represents the Churchill ward, said that though the results locally were ‘disappointing’, the party is still confident about delivering it’s manifesto.

She said: “Nationally, the results were extremely good for labour and has put us in a great position to win the General Election.

“Locally has been more disappointing for us. We want to think carefully about the results and what they tell us.

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“We want to work hard to instil more trust with the residents.”

She said the the two main areas which may have lost the party votes were Israel’s war on Gaza and Low Traffic Neighbour (LTN) schemes.

“Neither are things we have a lot of influence over,” she said. “People have strong feelings about both of those issues and we stand with them but in terms of what we can do about it is fairly minimal.”

Despite the losses in seats, Cllr Brown stated the party with continue in administering their manifesto which focuses on delivering affordable housing, helping residents with cost-of-living crisis, promoting Oxford’s Living Wage, tackling climate change and improving leisure facilities.

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“I certainly didn’t hear anything on the doorsteps of residents other than support for our manifesto,” she said.

“It’s very much based on what people have told us they want and need from their city council.

"Clearly, we have more work to do and we will continue to do what we do all the time which is listen to our local residents which is an important.

“It’s a case of making sure we are delivering on the priorities of Oxford. That’s what labour has always been.”