Oxford Labour defies national trends at city council elections

The Labour Party defied national trends in the Oxford local elections yesterday, with their seat count in the City Council dropping slightly from 21 to 20, against a national backdrop of major losses for the party. Multiple students at Oxford University stood unsuccessfully as candidates in wards across the city.

The Labour Party remains the largest party on the council. The Green Party gained four councillors, raising their total count to 13. The Liberal Democrats remained steady on a total of nine seats. The number of Independent councillors dropped from nine to six, with four now representing the Independent Oxford Alliance and two representing the Real Independents Group. The Conservatives and Reform UK still have no representation on the City Council.

A total of 24 councillors were up for election this year, with one councillor elected in each of the city’s 24 wards. Oxford City Council elects half of its councillors every two years, with each ward represented by two councillors overall. The Council remains under no overall control, meaning no party holds a majority. Labour previously held a majority on the Council for 13 years until the 2023 resignation of ten councillors in protest of Labour’s policy on the war in Gaza.

Holywell ward, the City Council ward with a majority student population, was held by the Green Party, with recent Oxford graduate Alfie Davis elected with an overwhelming majority of 622 votes over the Labour student candidate, Awab Kazuz.

Davis told Cherwell that the result in Holywell represents “a profound rejection of Labour” by students and a new form of “politics for the people”. Reflecting on the significance of the result for young people, Davis added that students represent a “unique social community… that is recognised very little”. However, they highlighted that their key takeaway from the Oxford results was the “ridiculously high” turnout, over 40% in most wards, describing this as a “real sign of young people showing interest in local elections”.

The results come amid major losses for the Labour Party in local councils across England, as well as projected losses in the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Senedd. Speaking to Cherwell after his loss, Labour candidate Kazuz, a first-year student at St Edmund’s Hall and a member of the Oxford Labour Club Executive Committee, said he was “really proud of the campaign that we ran” and noted that the party was holding “marginal seats”. Kazuz rejected any suggestion that the night had been a “drumming” for Labour in Oxford, telling Cherwell: “We’re doing better than a lot of people expected us to do.” He also said he was “rooting for Alfie so that they can do the best that they can for the people of Holywell”.

Student candidates also stood in the Carfax and Jericho ward – Harriet Dolby for the Conservatives, and Vittorio Cuneo-Flood for Reform UK – with a candidate ultimately elected from the Green Party, replacing the incumbent Labour candidate. Student Harry Morgan stood unsuccessfully for the Liberal Democrats in Osney & St Thomas, Zelalemawee Asheber stood unsuccessfully for the Green Party in Walton Manor, and Indigo Haynes stood unsuccessfully for the Green Party in Blackbird Leys.

Speaking to Cherwell, Morgan, former President of the Oxford Student Liberals Organisation, highlighted the “disconnect between the University and local elections generally”, adding that students have seemingly been more engaged this year. Addressing the wider national result, however, Morgan warned of the rise of Reform UK for students, saying: “They don’t really believe in the climate crisis. I don’t think they have housing solutions. I don’t think they have the deep thinking to deal with any of the problems that are going to affect us.”

Reform UK has made gains in councils across England. Whilst no seats were won by Reform in Oxford, they increased their vote share across the city, and came second in three wards, all of which were won by the Labour Party.

Reflecting on the results of the night, Councillor Susan Brown, Labour Leader of the Council prior to the election, told Cherwell: “I feel we have listened to local residents. We have given a very positive program to the people of Oxford. And so I’m pleased and proud that at the end of tonight, we ended up as still very much the largest party…It seems to me that people are relatively happy with what we are putting forward.” 

Brown acknowledged that it had proved “very difficult…to communicate directly with students”, particularly in the Holywell ward, and recognised that Labour continued to lack a majority (25 seats) in the Council, telling Cherwell she was “always happy to work in partnership and collegiately” with other parties.

The outcomes in each ward were as follows:

Barton and Sandhills – Labour hold

Blackbird Leys – Labour hold

Carfax and Jericho – Green gain from Labour

Churchill – Labour hold

Cowley – Green gain from Independent

Cutteslowe and Sunnymead – Lib Dem hold

Donnington – Green hold

Headington – Lib Dem hold

Headington Hill and Northway – Labour Hold

Hinksey Park – Labour hold

Holywell – Green hold

Littlemore – Labour hold

Lye Valley – Green gain from Independent

Marston – Green hold

Northfield Brook – Labour Gain from Independent

Osney and St Thomas – Green hold

Quarry and Risinghurst – Labour hold

Rose Hill and Iffley – Labour hold

St Clement’s – Green gain from Labour

St Mary’s – Green hold 

Summertown – Lib Dem hold

Temple Cowley- Independent hold

Walton Manor – Labour hold

Wolvercote – Lib Dem hold