Liberal Democrats win emphatic victories to take control of Vale of White Horse, Abingdon and Kidlington, become the largest party in South Oxfordshire, and make gains in West Oxfordshire and Cherwell. 

MEP candidates announced for the European Parliament elections on 23 May

In the South Oxfordshire District Council elections on 2 May the Liberal Democrats and Greens have decided to work together and not compete with each other.

Liberal Democrat Councillors Paul Harris and Liz Wade yesterday (3rd April) attended the launch at Blenheim Palace of Experience Oxfordshire's "Oxford Pass".

No Councillor from the ruling Labour Group attended, in spite of the valuable work Experience Oxfordshire does and having cut the award-winning organisation's budget.

Lib Dem Leader Sir Vince Cable visited Harwell and Blewbury on Saturday to launch the Lib Dem campaign to take control of the Vale of White Horse District Council.

Layla Moran, Lib Dem MP for Oxford West and Abingdon, has written to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs today to request an urgent meeting in order to secure adequate funding for flood alleviation in Abingdon.

Writing to Thérèse Coffey MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the Environment, Layla highlighted the “clear disparity” between flood spending in Oxford and Abingdon. Whilst the recently-scrapped Abingdon Flood Alleviation Scheme was projected to cost £9.7 million, a far more substantial £150 million is being spent on Oxford’s defences, according to recent projections.

The letter follows Coffey’s response to a Parliamentary Question tabled by Layla Moran regarding flooding prevention in Abingdon. In her response, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State wrote that ‘[f]unding is allocated consistently across the country’, despite the apparent inconsistency in Oxfordshire.

More than 5½ million people have signed a petition to revoke Article 50. Liberal Democrats across Oxfordshire are supporting this call to deliver an Exit from Brexit.

Oxford West and Abingdon MP Layla Moran has called for more action from the Government on flooding. This comes in light of a Parliamentary Question revealing that since 2015 only £1.2 million has been spent on flooding prevention in Abingdon.

 Layla recently called a public meeting on the Abingdon Flood Alleviation Scheme, which was promised and then scrapped by the Environment Agency due to spiralling costs of almost £9.7 million. She has said that the current spending on flooding is “not good enough” and more must be done to make up for the “disappointment” cancelling the scheme brought to residents.

The Government defended its record by saying the Environment Agency has spent £1.2 million on some flood risk reduction in Abingdon since April 2015. This is compared to the £150 million being spent on reducing flooding risks in Oxford.

Liberal Democrats from across Oxfordshire have been marching in London to campaign for a People's Vote. It is time to change course and save our country. It is time to Exit from Brexit.

Oxford West and Abingdon MP Layla Moran has called out Conservatives on Oxfordshire County Council after they have withdrawn their commitment to submit a bid for the B4044 community path from Eynsham to Botley.

Liberal Democrat MP has consistently backed the campaign for the path to be built in order to boost sustainable transport in the county however the County Council has recently announced it will be left out of their bid to the Government.

As a cycling champion, Layla has shared the outrage of cycling groups in Oxfordshire in light of this decision. Layla who is a vice chair on the Parliamentary group for cycling has been a supporter of the path from the beginning and will be putting pressure on the Council to give their support to the B4044 path.

We migrated our email servers to a different provider today and some messages sent to @oxonlibdems.uk email addresses may have been rejected. Our servers are now working properly, so you should be able to re-send any messages that did not get through the first time.

Oxford West and Abingdon MP Layla Moran has called for a fresh public consultation surrounding the “opaque” procurement process that will see PET-CT scanning services be awarded to private company InHealth.

By Andrew Gant, Leader of the Opposition on Oxford City Council.

Following recent revelations of domestic abuse, I call on Cllr Malik to resign as Deputy Lord Mayor of Oxford. Further, I call on him to resign as a councillor. It is not appropriate for him to continue representing our city or his ward residents.

By Conor McKenzie, Oxford Liberal Democrat spokesperson for Homelessness & Rough Sleeping.

Fines will never be an appropriate solution to the severe homelessness crisis in Oxford. Regardless of whether they are used or not, they are ineffective, misguided, and cruel.

Layla Moran, MP for Oxford West and Abingdon, has slammed the Government over shameful homeless deaths and homeless arrests, after it has been revealed that Oxford has the second highest rate of deaths in England per 100,000 people in 2017.

Long awaited detailed plans for the Lodge Hill junction are supposed to be on the way but have been further delayed.

The Conservative run Vale of White Horse District Council faces running out of money within four years if urgent action is not taken to fix the budget.

Liberal Democrats are calling on Network Rail to get the Cowley branch line back on track, following years of it being shut to passengers.

Developers have announced that they intend to demolish homeless hostel Simon House to make way for 30 new luxury apartments.

A service of celebration and thanksgiving for the life and work of Jean Fooks, former Lord Mayor and city and county councillor, will be held in St Michael's Church, Lonsdale Road, on Saturday February 2nd at 2.00pm.

The Memorial Service for Jean Fooks will be held on 2nd February, 2pm, at St Michael and All Angels, Lonsdale Road, Oxford.

The Liberal Democrats have increased their majority in Wolvercote ward by over 15%, at the City Council by-election which was held on Thursday 6th December.

Liberal Democrats have welcomed the passing of a motion which calls on Oxford City Council to provide emergency accommodation to people rough sleeping every night forecast to be 0 degrees or below, after their year long campaign.

The Conservative government, supported by the leader of Oxfordshire County Council, is intent on building a motorway style road between Oxfordshire and Cambridge.

The news that Campsfield House is to close in May 2019 was announced today in a letter from Immigration Minister Caroline Nokes to Oxford West and Abingdon’s Lib Dem MP Layla Moran.

The Planning Inspector has asked for major changes to the Vale of White Horse District Council's latest Local Plan. Liberal Democrats in the Vale believe the plan has been rushed and needs more work. 

Local members in Wolvercote ward have selected Liz Wade as their candidate for the by-election, expected to be held in early-December.

It was great to see so many people on Saturday at the People's Vote March in London. But we can't stop now - we need to keep up the pressure.

Liberal Democrat councillor for Wheatley division, Dr Kirsten Johnson, resigned her seat yesterday.

Jane Hanna has been selected as the Liberal Democrat candidate in the Grove & Wantage by-election, following the retirement of Zoe Patrick who is standing down after over 20 years of service to the local community.

On housing, homelessness, and Europe, the Labour Party are failing to stand up for Oxford residents who are being left behind.

Oxford West and Abingdon MP Layla Moran has used a House of Commons debate to call on the Government to provide £150 million of pounds of extra funding for cycling in Oxfordshire.

By Paul Harris, Liberal Democrat councillor for St Margaret's ward and Spokesperson for A Cleaner, Greener Oxford. This article originally appeared in the Oxford Mail on 22nd August 2018.

Except for President Trump and a few mad climate change deniers, everyone agrees that it is critically important to reduce carbon dioxide emissions which contribute to global warming.

Layla Moran, Cllr Andrew Gant and Oxford's Liberal Democrats are calling on the Labour leader of Oxford City Council to support the campaign for a People's Vote on the final Brexit deal.

Oxford’s Labour councillors voted against supporting Oxford’s rough sleepers, describing designs by Oxford Brookes University, in partnership with Crisis homeless support charity, as a ‘gimmick’.

The local Liberal Democrats have welcomed a U-turn by Conservative County Councillors that should mean an extra £10million of investment in Oxfordshire roads.

Liberal Democrats around Oxfordshire are pushing for action to tackle dangerous parking.

Illegal, dangerous and inconsiderate parking is a growing problem in market towns such as Abingdon, Faringdon and Wantage as well as communities such as Botley and Kidlington.

Ruvi Ziegler, Oxford associate professor and Lib Dem council candidate in the recent Oxford City Council elections, fears that Brexit will undermine Britain’s research status.

Ruth Wilkinson has resigned following ten years as a councillor for Headington ward.

Reports have emerged that Labour Councillor for Lye Valley ward, Ben Lloyd-Shogbesan, has been sharing anti-Semitic and homophobic articles.

The Liberal Democrats are celebrating a fantastic set of election results across Oxfordshire.

The Windrush Generation are British citizens. People who’ve lived here for decades – working, raising families, part of Britain. How they have been treated by the Home Office is brutal and cruel.

By Edward Davey, 17 April 2018

Tomorrow Lib Dem MP Layla Moran will sponsor a Bill to change the law on same-sex marriage in Northern Ireland.

Oxford's Labour councillors have voted down a Liberal Democrat amendment to the 2018-19 budget that would have seen in £2 million go towards ending homelessness and rough sleeping in the city.

Paul Harris, Liberal Democrat candidate for St. Margaret's ward in the Oxford City Council elections in May, has written to the Oxford Times about cycling.

During Prime Minister’s Questions today Lib Dem MP Layla Moran urged Theresa May to scrap a law dating back to the 1820s that is still being used to drag thousands of homeless people before the courts each year for rough sleeping.

Ruvi Ziegler, Liberal Democrat candidate for North ward in the May city council elections, has called for us to celebrate the contribution made by EU27 citizens in Oxford rather than undermine it.

Jenny Hannaby, Liberal Democrat councillor and Chair of Wantage Hospitals League of Friends, has been featured in the Oxfordshire Guardian calling for a 12-bed hospital unit in Wantage to be re-opened.

Neil Fawcett, County Councillor for Abingdon South, writes with some good news about the South Abingdon Children's Centre, which was closed as a result of cuts by the Conservatives.

Over a thousand homes in the Vale of White Horse, Cherwell and Oxford City are empty, with some stood vacant for ten years or more, research by the Liberal Democrats has revealed. 

Labour-run Oxford City Council have removed a homeless man's sleeping bag and other possessions, in a new power that has been backed up with a £2,500 fine.

The House of Commons voted to give Parliament a meaningful vote on the final Brexit deal last night, by a narrow margin of 309 to 305.

Kidlington Liberal Democrats branch held their inaugural AGM on Friday 6th October, with a speech from Layla Moran MP.

Their submission to the Planning Inspector points out the plan created by the Conservative administration is unsound, does not provide suitable infrastructure for the proposed new homes and does nothing to make housing in the Vale affordable for people on average or low incomes.

Liz Leffman, county councillor for Charlbury & Wychwood and district councillor for Charlbury, highlights a poor state of affairs in Oxfordshire:

"How often have you driven from Oxfordshire into Gloucestershire and noticed a visible improvement in the road surface on the dividing line?

Layla Moran MP, Education Spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats, spoke to Autumn Conference.

Oxford West & Abingdon MP Layla Moran, asks the Prime Minister about Brexit.

Layla Moran, Liberal Democrat Education spokesperson and MP for Oxford West and Abingdon, has been appointed to the House of Commons’ Public Accounts Committee.

Oxford leading the way in AV for an accessible bus service for all

Oxford West and Abingdon MP Layla Moran has welcomed the introduction of audio-visual (AV) announcements on buses in Oxford and has asked the Secretary of State to extend AV across the country. 

Pressure from local residents in the Begbroke and Yarnton Green Belt Campaign, as well as residents in Wolvercote, Cutteslowe and Kidlington, supported by Layla Moran MP, have resulted in Cherwell District Council agreeing to double the consultation period for its local plan involving 4,400 new homes on the edge of Oxford.

The Liberal Democrats have raised concerns following news that 52 inpatient beds will be moved from the Trauma Unit of the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford due to fire safety fears.

A fully electric version of the Mini will be built in Cowley, Oxford, BMW has confirmed.

Abingdon's MP Layla Moran has welcomed the announcement of £9.45 million for the A34 Lodge Hill junction but is pressing for the scheme to be completed before housing developments go ahead.

Ambitious for our country. Ambitious for our party.

Vince Cable MP, new leader of the Liberal Democrats, sets out his manifesto.

Layla Moran has made an impressive start as the brand new MP for Oxford West & Abingdon. From a well received maiden speech to leading a Westminster Hall debate on education, her first few weeks have seen Layla make her mark on Parliament.

Watch for yourself!

The Liberal Democrats have accused the government of insulting teachers and of having a 'tin ear' to public opinion after giving a below inflation pay-rise to teachers. 

Government plans to axe free school lunches have been dropped in another humiliating u-turn.

Commenting on the news, Liberal Democrat Shadow Education Secretary Layla Moran MP, said:

Oxfordshire Liberal Democrats are delighted to announce that Layla Moran has been elected as the MP for Oxford West & Abingdon in the 2017 General Election.

The Liberal Democrats beat the Conservatives by a margin of 10% of the votes cast in the County Council elections on Thursday.

Layla Moran, Parliamentary Candidate for Oxford West & Abingdon, has welcomed the decision by the Green Party that they will not field a candidate in the constituency and instead back the Liberal Democrats.

The Liberal Democrats have committed to ending the scandal of rough sleeping in Britain, as the Homelessness Reduction Bill enters into force today.

Open Britain, the European Movement and Britain for Europe have endorsed Layla Moran, the Liberal Democrat general election candidate in Oxford West and Abingdon.

The Oxfordshire County Council elections are on 4 May 2017. Your vote could make all the difference to the lives of people in Oxfordshire, so make sure you vote in the most critical local elections in a generation. 

President of the European Parliament says Britain would be welcomed back if voters changed their minds about Brexit on 8 June

Stunning victory in West Oxfordshire District Council by-election

Kieren Mullins, who joined the Liberal Democrats only last year, has overturned a massive Conservative majority to become a new district councillor in the West Oxfordshire seat for Hailey, Minster Lovell & Leafield.

Commenting on the news the Royal Marines are going to be cut by 200 posts, ex-Royal Marine and former Liberal Democrat Leader Paddy Ashdown commented:

Food prices saw the biggest increase for three years in the year to March, figures from the Office for National Statistics have revealed.

Risky it may be, but at least it is not lacking in ambition. When some of Oxford's roads - as well as those across the county - are in such a poor state, creative solutions are needed. 

I would like to go up to some of these rough sleepers and
say ‘you are a disgrace’  - Labour's John Tanner

Could you support us in addressing dangerously high levels of air pollution in Marcham? 
District Councillor Catherine Webber and County Councillor Richard Webber need your help to conduct an air quality survey this spring. 

The Liberal Democrat group at the Vale of White Horse District Council fully support the proposal for a new, county-wide unitary authority for Oxfordshire.

As the Vale of White Horse District Council decides on its budget for 2017/18, the Vale Liberal Democrats have identified three priorities for the coming financial year that need to be addressed: air quality; children‘s centres; and community leisure provision in Botley. 

In yesterday’s Kidlington Exeter by-election, Liberal Democrat candidate Alaric Rose saw a huge increase in support.

Despite Oxfordshire overwhelmingly voting to Remain in the European Union, its MPs have all voted to begin leaving the European Union within three months.

Didcot Liberal Democrats are urging local residents to give their comments to the initial consultation on the Didcot Garden Town before the deadline of SUNDAY 18 DECEMBER 2016.

Speaking at the count following her shock victory in the Richmond Park by-election, newly elected MP Sarah Olney said: 

"Let me start by thanking the other candidates for a hard-fought campaign – and to Zac Goldsmith in particular, I wish you well and assure you that I will continue your fight against the expansion of Heathrow.
 
"I also would like to thank the returning officer, the staff that have worked so hard today and yesterday and of course the police. I want to thank my amazing campaign team led by James Lillis and the thousands of volunteers who have taken time to support me over the course of the campaign. I want to thank my family and friends for the wonderful support they’ve given me – particularly my husband Ben and our children. I want to thank our leader Tim Farron, and all the other party members who could not have been more supportive. And I'd like to thank the Greens, More United, the Women's Equality Party and all the other people beyond the Lib Dems who have supported me in this campaign.
 
"A year and a half ago, I wasn’t involved in politics. I wasn’t a member of a political party. I’d never been involved in a political campaign. I’d never thought about being a politician. But I knew I was a Liberal – I believed in openness, tolerance, compassion, working with our neighbours at home and around the world – and when I saw what happened at the General Election and I felt I had to get involved.
 
"I think a lot of people in this community had the same feeling this summer. Richmond Park is full of people like me who felt that something was going wrong. That the politics of anger and division were on the rise. That the liberal, tolerant values we took for granted were under threat. We were seeing the UKIP vision for Britain in the ascendancy – intolerant, backward-looking, divisive; just as we see it in America and across Europe.
 
"Well today we have said no. We will defend the Britain we love. We will stand up for the open, tolerant, united Britain that we believe in. The people of Richmond Park and North Kingston have sent a shockwave through this Conservative Brexit Government. And our message is clear: we do not want a ‘hard Brexit’; we do not want to be pulled out of the Single Market; and we will not let intolerance, division and fear win."

Building on the success of our campaign in Witney, where Liz Leffman moved from fourth place to second place on a 19% swing in the vote to the Liberal Democrats, we achieved an even more impressive 22% swing to win Richmond Park in a surprise by-election upset. 

Lib Dem pressure to help renters afford a home and reduce upfront costs has been successful and the Government has announced a ban on letting fees for tenants in the Autumn Statement.

This is a Government that is just about managing. The official figures have revealed a £220 billion Brexit black hole- hundreds of billions taken out of our economy when we need it most.   Given how bad the outlook is, it’s no wonder the Chancellor doesn’t want to have to do another Autumn Statement.

Tim Farron, leader of the Liberal Democrats, says that the Liberal Democrats will vote against Article 50 unless the British people are given a vote on the final Brexit deal.

Throughout the Examination in Public of the Vale Local Plan, local Liberal Democrats fought alongside community groups to protect the Oxford green belt. 

Last night saw the results of the Witney by-election - we started the campaign in 4th place as 50/1 outsiders and thanks to the relentless, positive campaign we ran, dented the Conservative majority and secured one of our best by-election results in decades. This is what you need to know:

Today's the day! Polls are open from 7am until 10pm (check where yours is here) - and this is your chance to elect a strong, local MP who will get things done for our area.

Here's a few more reasons to vote for Liz today:

‘WE WON’T TELL YOU UNTIL AFTER THE ELECTION’ SAY CONSERVATIVES

Liz Leffman was joined by former Olympic athlete and Leader of the Liberal Democrats Ming Campbell to highlight the damaging effects of cuts to local bus services by the Consevative Council.

This is the most important by-election in my lifetime.

If people get behind the Liberal Democrats in Witney, it will send a very powerful message to the Prime Minister that West Oxfordshire will not stand for her yanking Britain out of the Single Market. That would endanger local jobs and be a quite extraordinary act of economic self-harm.

If you're voting for the first time, this is what you need to know:

This by-election can’t change the Government. But you can use it to make them listen - and change their plans.

Three reasons why Liz is the best option to hold the Government to account on Brexit:

It's becoming clearer and clearer that only the Lib Dems can beat the Tories in West Oxfordshire - some bookmakers even put Labour's chance of winning at 100/1. 

Voting Labour on the 20th October will just let the Conservatives back in.