Clarion Weekly, 9 May 2025

“It’s just a jump to the left” – for Oxfordshire. “And a step to the right” – for the rest of the country? Yes, it’s the week after the County Council elections; and whether your reaction to the LibDems declaring “we’ve got to keep control” was “it’s astounding!” or a (Rocky) Horror Show, we’re here for you with our roundup of news from city and county.

This week’s top stories

As we go to press, councillors of all political stripes are in County Hall for a series of induction meetings following last week's elections. In a long read this week, we asked retiring independent councillor Damian Haywood for his advice to new councillors.

The new OCC cabinet is set to be announced imminently. Two previous cabinet members (John Howson and Pete Sudbury) are no longer councillors, while Nathan Ley says family commitments mean he can’t give the role the attention it deserves. So expect changes – we’ll post news on Bluesky and Twitter as soon as we have it. More on the elections further down this newsletter.

How to be a councillor

Oxfordshire has a new set of councillors – and over half of them are freshers. On Friday, the new intake of county councillors will have their first meetings at County Hall – a full day of inductions, with group meetings afterwards. Their collective votes have an impact on 750,000 people in

Oxford ClarionOxford Clarion

Oxford West & Abingdon MP Layla Moran has announced the birth of her first child at the John Radcliffe Hospital with partner Rosy Cobb. She said: “In this moment of joy for our family I want to thank the NHS staff who are taking such good care of us. We feel blessed indeed.”

She will be taking parental leave for five months, but her office remains open for casework and a proxy vote will be in place in Parliament. Proxy voting for new parents was introduced in 2019 after MP Tulip Siddiq had delayed her caesarean section to vote in a Brexit debate.

Thames swimming organiser Henley Swim says it is “effectively bankrupt” after concerns about sewage in the river led to “an unprecedented drop in the number of registrations”. This year’s programme of events has been cancelled and an administrator is being appointed.

The company organised events including the Club to Pub swim, the Henley Swim Festival and the Thames Marathon to Marlow. They say:

The directors have put thousands of pounds in and have never taken a dividend. We do not have reserves to weather such a dramatic downturn through no fault of our own. We are very grateful for the fantastic support of loyal and enthusiastic swimmers, volunteers and suppliers and we are so sorry that after twenty years Henley Swim has been forced to close down due to circumstances beyond our control.

Henley & Thame MP Freddie van Mierlo added:

I am very sorry to hear about the closure of Henley Swim, an organisation who have been running events on the Thames for over 20 years. Thames Water must get on and urgently improve the health of our rivers!

Oxford City Council is selling the freehold of one of the city’s most prominent retail buildings. 64-65 Cornmarket, part of the HSBC unit at Carfax, is to be sold to the owners of the adjacent Clarendon Centre. HSBC is planning to relocate along Cornmarket to Jesus College’s Cheng Yu Tung building. The Clarendon owners already own the other part of the unit.

The City Council says “an offer of this level would not be forthcoming from another purchaser due to the purchaser being a neighbouring freeholder… the awkward nature of the freehold split is likely to deter interest from parties”. An options analysis concluded that, otherwise, “there was very limited potential for any regeneration or change of use… the capital expenditure required to convert the property [would be] too high for the rental income the City Council would receive”.

The decision has been taken on an urgent timescale by the City Council, which says that completion was required within 30 days. It reports that the price offered is “above the anticipated market value”.

Clarendon owners Goldmoney told the Clarion that “we’re not in a position to comment on any details” when we asked what their plans were for the building. You can read more about the history of the building at the always excellent Oxford History website.

Around the city

• BMW has ended 180 agency contracts at its Cowley Plant. While this is a fraction of its 3500 workforce, the car giant is operating in a tough trading environment, including lower than expected take up of EVs and a 25% tariff on all UK cars imported to the US. Oxford East MP Anneliese Dodds, in whose constituency the plant is located, raised the challenges of automotive sector tariffs in Parliament last month. Last month, Oxfordshire's LibDem MPs, whose constituents work in the plant, called on the government to “stand up to Trump” over tariffs.
• All Souls College’s plans to redevelop 10–15 High Street, including entrances to the Covered Market, have been approved by City Council planners who said the buildings had “become run down and fallen into a state of disrepair” under previous ownership. The plans would see the ground floor shopfronts and market entrances refurbished, plus creation of a new lecture theatre, seminar rooms, and other academic facilities. Council heritage officers agreed this would “enhance the character and appearance of the conservation area”. Professor Sir John Vickers, Warden of All Souls, said: “We are delighted to have received permission. By investing in well-designed teaching, research and retail spaces, we will be able to advance our academic mission in a manner that is also good for our historic city and its economic vibrancy.”

• Pedestrianisation work on St Michael’s Street in the city centre is complete. The centre of the road has been paved and brought up to pavement level, with outdoor seating for the food and drink establishments. The Cornmarket end of the road has been permanently closed to vehicles since 2022. The works cost £377,000, funded by the Government and delivered by the City Council’s ODS arm.
• Queen Street and Cornmarket, two of Oxford’s busiest streets, are to be redesigned by Urban Movement, the designers who recently remodelled Market Street. Oxfordshire City Council has awarded them a £38,000 contract to “develop proposals to enhance the public realm”. Urban Movement will also consider Bonn Square, outside the Westgate. They are due to report back by mid-October. The work follows a series of concept drawings for “an Oxford that puts people first” published by the County Council in March.
• Oxfordshire County Council is attempting to trace the owner of a piece of “unregistered land” adjacent to Cumnor Hill. It needs the land for embankment stabilisation works. Anyone with information is asked to get in touch by 30 May.
• Wicked Chocolate has reopened in the Covered Market after moving premises. It is now next to iScream in Avenue 4, also run by Graham MacDonald.
• Goodies menswear shop celebrated its first anniversary in the Covered Market by bringing a wheelbarrow of tiramisu to the party. Catering was provided by Hamblin bakery next door and chef Zoltan Gothard.

Around the county

• Investigative works are taking place at the proposed site of Abingdon Reservoir. Costain is carrying out clay compaction trials to understand the challenges that diggers will face, reports Construction News. Costain’s James Barratt told the industry website: “The biggest part of the project is shifting 45 million cubic metres of mud. So to know how easy it is to transport, and how easy it is to dig, we can feed those understandings into a relatively detailed construction programme.” We looked at the proposals, and local opposition to them, in a long read as part of our Infrastructure Week series.
• 120 new homes are proposed for Bloxham, near Banbury. Ainscough Land wants to build on the southern edge of the village off Barford Road, close to the USAF comms centre at Barford St John airfield. The application follows a similar 150-home development put forward by William Davis Homes in October. The houses would be predominantly two-storey with some single-storey garages. The architects say their aim is “to create a well-informed attractive neighbourhood, not dominated by the car”. The outline plans are now with Cherwell District Council for consideration.
• Radley College, the boarding school near Abingdon, is to take over a group of seven prep schools including Oxford’s Chandlings, Cothill west of Abingdon, and Kitebrook near Moreton-in-Marsh. It says none of the schools will close and they will not become “feeders”. Two trustees from the prep schools will join Radley’s board. A FAQ on the deal says: “While there are no immediate plans to expand further, over time, we would expect to be an obvious choice for those schools seeking to join a group and/or a model for those wishing to establish one.”
• A new birthing pool has opened at Banbury’s Horton General Hospital as part of a £34,000 renovation. Milica Redfearn, Director of Midwifery at Oxford University Hospitals, said: "We are pleased to provide the option of waterbirths at the Horton again.” The Horton’s maternity unit has been midwife-led since 2016. A local campaign, Keep the Horton General, is fighting for consultant-led maternity to be reinstated.

• Beer news: The Craftsman Taproom has opened in Abingdon, serving a range of beers and other drinks including the proprietor's own 'Magic Midget' named after the MG sports car once made in the town. The Taproom in Stert Street was formerly the Cowshed, and before that, a delicatessen. Late last year the Midget pub, in Midget Close, was renamed the Roaring Raindrop in homage to the last record-breaking MG car made in Abingdon. Meanwhile, Abingdon's newest restaurant opened fully on Monday, exactly opposite the Craftsman Taproom. Cay Khe, a Vietnamese restaurant in Stert Street serves spicy rice & noodle dishes including Pho and Banh Mi. It is currently unlicensed for alcohol, so you can bring your own.
• More beer news! Oxfordshire brewery Hook Norton has launched a new beer, Sundial IPA. MD James Clarke said “Whilst cask ale will always remain our core, brewing these lighter, flavour-packed beers to create something that bridges our rich tradition with today’s tastes is exciting.”

University and research

• Graduating Oxford students will now be addressed as “Sodalis” (member or fellow) rather than “Dominus” (sir) following a vote on adopting Latin forms which are not “conspiciously gendered”. A classics Fellow explained the replacement “has the same forms regardless of the gender of the individual”. An initial proposal had suggested removing the initial address entirely, but members of Congregation felt that they wanted to retain “the salutations that connote the respect shown by University Officers to graduands in the course of the ceremony”. Professor Nicolai Sinai (Pembroke) described the use of Latin as “charming linguistic cosplay that really needs to be taken with quite a few pinches of salt”, while Paul Elbourne (Magdalen) worried that “hic adstantem”, meaning “standing here”, could be exclusionary towards wheelchair users. The amendment to use “Sodalis” was proposed by Tristan Franklinos, Lector in Greek & Latin, and seconded by the University’s Public Orator Jonathan Katz. The amendment was carried 24–4 with the amended proposal carried 22–6.
• Christ Church has commissioned Errollyn Wallen, Master of the King’s Music, to write a new Latin setting of the Magnificat to mark the 500th anniversary of the college and cathedral’s foundation. Its premiere will be on 28 June, sung by the boy choristers and adult clerks of the Cathedral Choir. Wallen was appointed by King Charles III in 2024, the first black woman to serve in the position. She moved to the UK from Belize when she was two years old. She now lives in a lighthouse in the far north of Scotland.
• Yesterday’s election of a new Pope included a vote cast by an Oxford fellow. Cardinal Timothy Radcliffe read Theology at St John’s College and was a fellow of Blackfriars, teaching scripture at Oxford, including becoming a director of the Las Casas Institute at Blackfriars. In 2003, he was awarded an honorary doctorate of Divinity with the Chancellor citing: "I present a man distinguished both for eloquence and for wit, [...] a practical man who believes that religion and the teachings of theology must be constantly applied to the conduct of public life." He became a cardinal in December 2024, having never been a bishop – making him the first non-bishop cardinal to vote in the conclave since a 1962 revision by Pope John XXIII which required a cardinal having to have received the episcopal order. While Cardinal Radcliffe was technically in the running for Pope, he appears to have told reporters he does not want the job, saying he believed the Holy Spirit was "far too wise to even think of me (as pope) for the shortest moment". The last British Pope was Pope Adrian IV in 1159.

Trains and buses

• The Flying Scotsman, the 1923 LNER steam locomotive which was the first to hit 100mph, passed through Oxford and Banbury stations on Tuesday on its way to Didcot Railway Centre. The engine is on loan from its usual home at York’s National Railway Museum for a series of “Rivals Reunited” events with GWR loco Pendennis Castle. The events at Didcot Railway Centre will run from 14 May to 1 June and booking is essential.
• More passengers from Littlemore and Sandford are taking the bus following a County Council-supported service uplift. Oxford Bus Co says that since frequency increased to every 15 minutes, it has seen a 22% rise (year-on-year) in passengers joining the 3A there. Luke Marion from OBC said: “For many years, people in Littlemore have been telling us that they wanted better bus services, so it's encouraging to see more people choosing the bus following our latest round of improvements. It’s made a positive impact on journey times and punctuality.”

Walking, cycling and boating

• The Road Safety Trust has awarded Oxford University nearly £250,000 to study inequality in road safety. The project will map danger spots for children with SEND as part of TSU's work considering safer, independent journeys for SEND children. The Trust is funded by fees from driver awareness courses.
• Lock-keepers on the River Thames are voting on strike action over Environment Agency budget cuts. The GMB union’s Kevin Brandstatter said “There are only 52 staff doing the work of more than 90 – it’s just not safe.” The ballot closes on 23 May.
• Accessible moorings have opened on the Thames at Wallingford. The new pontoon is designed specifically for a ‘wheelyboat’ operated by the Wallingford Accessible Boat Club. Sam James-Lawrie from South Oxfordshire District Council said “We’ve already put significant funding in recent years into the campsite, pool, toilet and wash facilities and a fabulous makeover of our splash pads – which proved incredibly popular the last two seasons. Our latest improvements further enhance the location as a ‘destination’ within the district.”

Oxfordshire politics

Oxfordshire is adjusting to a new political reality following the Liberal Democrats’ comprehensive win at last week’s County Council elections, gaining a majority with 36 seats out of 69. We looked at the results in a long read. Abingdon North councillor Nathan Ley, re-elected with the largest vote share in the county at 57.7%, summed up the LibDems’ jubilant mood with “Never in my life did I think I’d be part of something like this”.

The Conservatives lost 11 seats. One of those who failed to win re-election was their group leader, Eddie Reeves, standing in Hook Norton and Cropredy. Gracious in defeat, he posted: “We were 54 votes short. Democracy relies on losers’ consent and today I am a consenting loser!” In nearby Banbury, however, Conservative councillor Kieron Mallon (pictured) was delighted to be re-elected with a majority of 442 votes, saying: “During the campaign, people of all and no political persuasion said to me on the doorstep that they would support and vote for me as a truly local Banbury candidate who does his best for the town in general and Easington in particular. I am truly humbled by the support and result.”

It wasn’t a day to remember for Labour, losing four seats overall. But the party fared better in Oxfordshire than it did nationally – amazingly, Labour now has more councillors in Oxfordshire than it does in Derbyshire, Lancashire, Leicestershire and Staffordshire combined. The Conservatives’ greater losses made Labour the official opposition on the County Council. Banbury MP Sean Woodcock said: “Overall it has been a disappointing set of results for Labour nationally. But in Banbury and Chipping Norton, things weren’t quite so bad and we managed to make gains from the Tories. Thank you!”

Reform UK’s one successful Oxfordshire candidate, Hao Du in Didcot South, posted a long reflection on Twitter. He took aim at the electoral system, saying “While I accept the political realities of a first-past-the-post system, I cannot accept that 34,148 Reform voters should have less of a voice than 24,604 Labour voters in Oxfordshire.”

We’ve seen a few dodgy graphs doing the rounds since the election, so with thanks to the assiduous Wikipedia elves who collated the results, here’s how the votes looked across the whole of Oxfordshire. Is this what they call five-party politics?

Note how Labour won 12 seats with 12.8% of the vote; Reform UK won one seat with 17.8% of the vote; and the Conservatives won 11 seats with 21.3% of the vote. County-wide, the Greens have almost caught up with Labour.

And here’s Oxford City on its own:

The Liberal Democrats actively campaigned in just four Oxford seats (Headington & Quarry, Jericho & Osney, Summertown & Walton Manor, and Wolvercote & Cutteslowe), but still came out with a higher share of the vote than the Independent Oxford Alliance, who campaigned in eight. The Greens, meanwhile, can stake a claim to being the city’s second party.

We’ll leave the last word to LibDem candidate Katherine Miles, who was pipped to the post by Labour’s James Fry in the closely fought division of Summertown & Walton Manor.

“The Liberal Democrats are celebrating great gains in local elections as the party secured control of three councils last Thursday, including in my home county of Oxfordshire. But as my colleagues are still celebrating their wins, I am suffering from post-election grief. I narrowly lost out winning a seat at the county council, after months of hard work campaigning. It means while my political colleagues will now control the council, I won’t be a part of it.

“Standing for election means making sacrifices, from lost earnings due to delivering leaflets and canvassing residents, to missing out my 7-year old’s birthday tea on election day as I dashed around the city reminding people to vote. On reflection, I wonder was it worth it?

“During my recent campaign, I have been shouted at, had doors slammed in my face, and listened to policy criticism, driving me at times to tears. Yet these challenging experiences were few and far between. Most of the experience was rewarding. I loved the opportunity to canvass people about their diverse views and gain their insights on the state of the world, country and my city today. Indeed, as a woman it was a privilege to stand, and I am grateful we live in a democracy so I could.

“I may still be in the period of grieving but as the weeks pass, I am sure I will apply the lessons I learned from those I listened to. So this week if you meet someone, or indeed voted for someone last week who didn’t win, acknowledge their grief, thank them for standing and ask them what they learned.”

This weekend

• Popular family bike ride Kidical Mass returns on Sunday at 2.30 pm to ride through Oxford, starting at Gloucester Green. Feeder rides depart from across Oxford at 2pm.
• Isis Chamber Orchestra - Spring Concert. Saturday at 7.30pm at All Saints' Church, Lime Walk, Headington. Grieg, Vaughan Williams, Copland, Elgar, Finzi and Karl Jenkins. Tickets.
• Saint-Saëns’ Carnival of the Animals will be performed twice on Saturday as part of Somerville’s ‘Piano Extravaganza’: a family concert at 11.30am, and an evening showcase at 8pm which also features “fireworks for two, four, six and eight hands” in works by Piazzola and Graham Fitkin (who once appeared with Errollyn Wallen on an album on Manchester’s legendary Factory Records).
• Spring Fair at Harcourt Arboretum is on Saturday from 10am–4pm – a chance to blunder through the bluebells, knee-deep in flowers. The A4074 is never a fun cycle ride, and parking is very limited, but there’s a shuttle bus from Redbridge P&R or the X40 from the city centre.
• It’s beer festival season! South Oxfordshire CAMRA notes that, just across the Thames in Berkshire, it’s the Wargrave Beer Festival today and Saturday with free entry. The forecast is good, so maybe cycle there and get the train home?
• As we have a whole lot of lovely new post-election subscribers, two Clarion archive links that may be useful. (We're not just about politics!) If you fancy shopping super locally this weekend, here is our Market Directory. And if the sunshine has put you in the mood to put some miles on your bike, here are some lovely traffic-free rides around our wonderful county.

Dates for your diary

• UK and Europe – moving together? An Oxford for Europe event at 7.30pm, Thursday 22 May, New Road Baptist Church. Speakers include Calum Miller MP, Baroness Jan Royall and Cecilia Jastrzembska from Young European Movement.
• Frideswide Voices, the girls’ choir at Christ Church Cathedral, is holding a ‘Be a Chorister for a Day’ taster event on Saturday 17 May. Girls in Year 1 and Year 2 are welcome.
• ‘Blueprints: how mathematics shapes creativity’ is a talk to be delivered by Marcus du Sautoy, Charles Simonyi Professor for the Public Understanding of Science, on Wednesday 21 May. Registration is required to attend in person, but you can watch for free on YouTube.

Oxfordshire’s independent media

• The Oxford Sausage tells of the Painted Room, hidden away above a Betfred n Cornmarket.
• Bitten Oxford interviews the Gypsy Baker and talks sourdough. Separately, they review North Parade in the latest instalment of their Bitten Streets series.
• Ox in a Box reviews the Oxford Festival of the Arts line up and has hot ticket recommendations.
• Cherwell explains why the Oxford Union voted against a proposal to fly a LGBTQ+ flag for Pride Month every year.
• The Oxford Blue advises on surviving Oxford if you don’t drink (much). Though we’re not sure that “I usually choose the cheapest and least alcoholic drink—cider” will survive contact with the Old Rosie in the Turf Tavern.
• Having fought off a hard-right electoral threat, Oxford now faces something almost as bad: a zombie apocalypse. The Oxford Student looks at how an Oxford resident might survive one. (When we checked, we were amused that the post views stood at 666.)
• Nightshift’s May edition is out with the usual round of interviews, reviews and gigs.
• Stretching ‘independent media’ a little… but over on Bluesky, the Ashmolean has a thread of 'The Ashmolean meets the Met Gala' and it is brilliant.

Notes from Clarion HQ

Our inbox has been bursting this week. Thank you to everyone who’s got in touch – we love hearing from you. We’re at news@oxfordclarion.uk if you have something you think we ought to be covering. We are all the Clarion.

One enquiry we fired off this week received this response:

It's always a pleasure to see how engaged the Clarion remains with the local community […] I am very much looking forward to sharing more information with you when we are able, and I’ll be sure to keep you in the loop as things progress. In the meantime, please don’t hesitate to reach out if there's anything else you'd like to discuss!

…so we guess ChatGPT has come for press officers’ jobs?

Our turn-of-the-(previous)-century predecessors majored on election coverage, too. Here’s the Clarion election supplement for the Aberdeen by-election of 1907. This was sometimes against the will of founder Robert Blatchford, who was bored of elections, and wrote “If we dropped Parliament and avoided strikes for ten years, and put all our money, time and brains into a great educational effort, the gain would be enormous.” We hope we haven’t bored you too much over the last fortnight. Have a great week.