Local Elections

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The Last Conservative Administration in Oxfordshire Has Finally Fallen

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The new GaIA group of Greens and Independents

In May the North Oxfordshire Green Party had it’s 5th consecutive win in Oxfordshire gaining a further seat on Cherwell District Council. This gives us 4 members now having grown from the single member we had in 2019 (me).

As I reported last year we were poised to take control in 2023 as part of a 4 way alliance with the Lib Dems, Labour and the Independents. That whole project collapsed at the 11th hour when Labour pulled out of the deal because the didn’t want to work with the Greens. So we had to double our efforts this year to gain additional seats, along with the Lib Dems so that we could finish the job of removing the Conservatives from power across the whole of Oxfordshire. This was something both our parties had promised in 2023 but at that point without Labour’s support we couldn’t deliver on that pledge.

Happily this year we can!

Along with our Lib Dem colleagues we had the numbers this year to take minority control of the council. Sadly we are still 3 seats short of an overall majority, but we felt we needed to deliver on our promises and so have formed an administration. The comprises of two groups – the Lib Dems, who now sit as a single group rather than as part of a group with the Greens and the Independents who have now formed their own separate group which I lead. We joined with the single independent who had previously ben part of the Progressive Oxfordshire Group – the alliance I was a founding member of in 2019.

Our new group is called the Green and Independent Alliance, which neatly forms the acronym ‘GAIA’ which we thought was appropriate for a group of 4 Greens and one Independent, especially as the independent member is a Green in all but name.

Our two groups have now signed a formal coalition agreement to run the council together with 2 Greens, Myself and To Beckett sitting on the executive in Green and Environment roles.

This is a great outcome for us and we hope for the people of Cherwell. We hope to make the district a better place to live and work for everyone as well as improving nature recovery and tackling climate change.

Of course we have since been overtaken by events when on the very day we agreed our new administration Rishi Sunak called a General Election. I must admit that this rather caught us all on the hop just as we were all starting to get to grips with our new leadership roles on the council. This is even more tricky for me since I am the Green Party Parliamentary candidate for the new constituency of Bicester and Woodstock. There will be more on that in my next post.

The new coalition administration of Greens, Lib Dems and Independents after the first full council meeting of the new municipal year

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Watch – Why do I Want to be Your County Councillor? [VIDEO]

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    I currently sit on 4 different councils – Cherwell District Council, Yarnton Parish Council, Gosford and Water Eaton Parish Council and Kidlington Parish Council.

    So why do I also want to be a County Councillor? Well there are many things I can’t get done without influence at a county level. I’ve tried several times to get the county to co-operate on issues that needs to be dealt with in my district ward, such as road repairs, tree planting and flood defences. Sometimes it can take me a whole year just to get a meeting with county officers.

    As a County Councillor it will be far more difficult for the county council to ignore me. I’ll be able to get things done that have not been properly dealt with by the existing councillor in Kidlington South.

    If you don’t know who that is and you live in the Kidlington South Division (check your polling card) then that’s a pretty good indication of how bad a job your current councillor is doing.

    This short video gives you some more idea of why I would like to be your representative on the County Council, especially for people who live in Yarnton and Begbroke. As a Yarnton resident myself it will be nice to be able to help people in my local community.

    Watch the video here https://youtu.be/YPQ00FGIlFc

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    Please Support my Campaign for Election to the County Council

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      I’m currently running a fundraiser for my campaign to be elected to the county council in May and I’d really appreciate it if you could share the link below around to as many people as possible.

      Elect Ian Middleton to Oxfordshire County Council – a Politics crowdfunding project in Kidlington by Ian Middleton (crowdfunder.co.uk)

      Even if you can’t afford to donate yourself, just sharing this pages may inspire others to donate and, as the saying goes, every little helps!

      I’m standing as a county councillor because so many things that I’ve tried to do as a District Councillor have ended up being under the purview of the County Council. Problems with roads, cycle paths, flooding and other county wide issues are raised with me frequently and I do my best to deal with them. But the stumbling block is often that the county council tends to be less receptive to me as a District Councillor leaving me with very little in the way of influence.

      If I sat on the county council I think so many of the things I work and campaign for, not least tackling important issues like climate change, would be far easier to get done.

      To that end I hope you’ll feel able to support me in some way, either by donating to and sharing my fundraiser or hopefully helping out in other practical ways like delivering leaflets or letters, filling envelopes, or maybe helping with door knocking or telephone canvassing. If you’d like to help just email me at ian.middleton@greenoxford.com

      There’s always lots to do and in the compressed timescale that the pandemic has forced us into, even less time to do it now. There’s less than 2 months to go, but it’s 2 months in which we can all make a difference to our own lives and those of others!