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Oxford Clarion

Clarion Weekly, 7 February 2025

Clarion Weekly, 7 February 2025

This week’s top stories Oxfordshire County Council elections will take place as planned in May. This week Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner announced a number of counties where unitary authorities would be set up, requiring postponement of elections, and also named the first overarching ‘strategic authorities’ grouping several counties.

Oxford’s elections 2025: the battlegrounds

Oxford’s elections 2025: the battlegrounds

With 100 days to go, voter analysis by the Oxford Clarion suggests that Labour face severe challenges in Oxford in the county council elections on 1 May. If the voting for last year’s city council elections was replayed at the county elections, Labour would win just five divisions of

Botley Road could remain closed until June 2026

Botley Road could remain closed until June 2026

Rail industry documents passed to the Oxford Clarion show that the Government will need to overrule Network Rail if the Botley Road work is to finish before June 2026. The road was originally closed in April 2023, and was set to reopen in October 2024. But the discovery of a

Rearranging the pieces on the Oxfordshire cheeseboard

Rearranging the pieces on the Oxfordshire cheeseboard

Charles de Gaulle famously asked “How can you govern a country which has 246 varieties of cheese?” Keir Starmer is asking how you can govern a country with 246 varieties of local council. France has 18 régions, which in turn are divided into départements, 101 in all. Add a few

Clarion Weekly, 13 December 2024

Clarion Weekly, 13 December 2024

This week's top stories Will the Government’s announcement of more special needs funding fix Oxfordshire’s SEND crisis? We took a detailed look this week. Spoiler: it’s rather more complex than the headlines might imply – pointing up the difference between revenue (ongoing) funding for support staff

“Enough is enough”: Jericho community loses patience with wharf saga

“Enough is enough”: Jericho community loses patience with wharf saga

In a city where every scrap of land is sought for much-needed housing, it scarcely seems believable that a 2,000m² site just outside the centre has been sitting derelict for 18 years. Even more so when that site has a history stretching back 180 years and is located in

The “Bird and Baby” grows up: inside the new Eagle & Child

The “Bird and Baby” grows up: inside the new Eagle & Child

What do you get when the world’s third richest man buys Tolkien’s local? Oxford is about to find out. The Eagle & Child is Oxford’s most storied inn. It was here that the Inklings met every Tuesday lunchtime – a writing group including J.R.R. Tolkien, C.