Oxford will go to the polls on May 7, in what is likely to be the last ever election for the city council.

There will be 24 seats up for grabs, one in every ward.

Below is the statement shared by Reform, and there are more to come from the other parties and groups fighting for votes in the city.

For Reform UK Oxford, Felix Bloomfield shared the following pitch:

Oxfordshire is in crisis. We need common sense governance for our county.

Oxford city, our historic market towns and beautiful countryside are all under serious threat from ineptly run councils at all levels across the county. Reform UK brings common sense – putting Oxfordshire families, workers and communities first.

Housing and Planning – For too many years our district council planning authorities have been in chaos allowing unwanted speculative housing developments with no new infrastructure. We oppose the destruction of our precious countryside and believe new homes should be on brownfield sites first, genuinely affordable for local people on local wages.

Transport and Infrastructure – Oxford’s roads are in gridlock, especially the ring-road as cars are forced out of the city centre and Botley Road remains closed due to the building of a railway bridge that has taken longer to build than the Eiffel Tower.

The establishment parties that run Oxfordshire County Council and the City Council push for a fantasy Carbon Free Oxford by 2040 in the meantime introducing unwanted Low Traffic Neighbourhoods, Zero Emission Zones, Workplace Parking and a Congestion Charge. All these costly policies bring misery to hard working families and business owners. Reform would scrap them all.

Education and Young People – Oxfordshire’s schools have falling standards and those families with children with Special Educational Needs have been seriously let down across the County. Reform UK supports knowledge based education free from gender ideology and climate alarmism. 

NHS and Social Care – We will scrap wasteful bureaucracy focusing resources on treating patients, cutting waiting lists, and supporting our brilliant doctors and nurses. We will also fight to stop those in need or family crisis paying to park at our hospitals. Reform is needed to support the elderly and families without bankrupting councils.

Farming, Environment & Energy – Oxfordshire is a rural county and for too long has seen Oxford centric bureaucracy. Our farmers feed us. Reform rejects net-zero policies that are wrecking British agriculture while we import food with lower standards from abroad. We support local food production, and an end to unfair inheritances taxes on family farms. 

Immigration & Asylum – Oxfordshire has welcomed many small boat arrivals and asylum hotel costs drain resources from social housing, our NHS and schools. Hotels must be reopened for Oxfordshire tourists and locals to help the local economy. British people should come first in housing, jobs and services.

Lets take back control of Oxfordshire.

The scheme invites supporters to open their gardens to the public to raise vital funds for the hospice.

This year’s scheme features 11 garden events in areas including Adderbury, Culworth, Middleton Cheney, Tysoe, and more.

Sir Peter Job and Christine Job, owners of The Old Vicarage in Adderbury, said: “We have been building our garden and arboretum over nearly 30 years to our great pleasure, which we are happy to share with others, especially under the banner of an important cause such as the Katharine House Hospice.

“Opening the garden across the seasons allows visitors to explore its changing palette – different flowers, evolving colours, and trees that transform month by month, ensuring that every visit feels unique.”

In the 2025-26 season, the scheme raised over £6,100 for Katharine House.

Roseann Thompson, community engagement manager, said: “We are so grateful to our supporters who are generously opening their gardens to the public to raise money for Katharine House.

“We rely heavily on donations from our community to keep our hospice running, so this support is vital.”

Garden visitors can enjoy floral borders, water features, orchards, and family-friendly scavenger hunts.

Many gardens also offer teas, cakes, and scavenger hunts.

More information is available at khh.org.uk/gardens.

S.J. Poyton, who was educated at Northbourne and Manor primary schools, Didcot Girls School, Dicot Sixth Form, and Banbury and Bicester College, launched her middle-grade novel Mammoth Rider in March.

The book was published after 19 years of Poyton’s dedication to writing several books and seeking publication.

Set in an alternate modern reality, the story features mammoths brought back by scientists to combat climate change.

The protagonist, Ash Grimes, grows up in the Arctic research centre that revived the species and dreams of becoming a mammoth rider like her father.

However, taming the wild mammoths proves challenging, and Ash finds herself in a race to protect a rare white mammoth calf from a trophy hunter, with the help of her friends Ruby and Jack.

The book was launched at Waterstones Trafalgar Square, and Poyton has since been engaging with children at school events across Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Bedfordshire, and Oxfordshire, as well as at the Natural History Museum in Oxford.

Poyton, who is neurodiverse with dyslexia, dyscalculia, and dyspraxia, faced additional challenges on her journey to publication.

Despite these hurdles, she has expressed pride in Mammoth Rider, which features a neurodiverse protagonist and is designed to be highly readable, in line with the National Dyslexia Association’s guidelines.

Poyton hopes that the book’s blend of science and action will captivate even the most reluctant readers.

Mammoth Rider is available from all online retailers.