Conservatives hope to win Oxford for first time in 15 years

The Tories are fielding candidates in all the seats up for grabs on May 5, with party officials focusing efforts on areas represented by Conservative MP Nicola Blackwood.

The Oxford West and Abingdon member increased her majority by more than 9,000 votes at last year's General Election and her colleagues will seek to capitalise on that gain as they canvass Liberal Democrat and Labour strongholds in the north of the city.

Key pledges from the party include reigning in the city's council tax – which this year rose to £285 per year for band D properties – and "holding to account" the ruling Labour administration.

Mark Bhagwandin, the candidate for Headington and Northway, said he would call for spending to be spread more evenly across the city and for stronger "fiscal discipline" if elected.

The 41-year-old added: "People are being asked to pay more and more council tax every year but we are seeing very little in efficiency savings from the council, which is not cooperating with other authorities.

"Executive pay is also far too high. It is morally wrong to be increasing the pay of people on more than £100,000 at a time when everyone else is tightening their belts."

Mr Bhagwandin also called for cash to be spent on regeneration schemes in different areas of the city: "At the moment, if you look at where money is being spent, there are some wards getting a lot of resources and others getting nothing.

"In Blackbird Leys there are yet more regeneration programmes this year, while in the Headington and Northway ward – where I am standing – hardly any money is being spent.

"The city council is not spending money is an equitable way and that is a real concern."

Mr Bhagwandin, a former journalist who now works for the parenting advocacy charity Life, also claimed the Liberal Democrats and Green Party had failed to be effective opposition parties to Labour.

The father-of-two added: "The Conservatives are the only party saying council tax is too high – people in Oxford are paying through their noses.

"We cannot just keep asking people to pay more. At some point we need to see restraint, because it is already a very expensive city to live in.

"We need fiscal discipline and if Conservatives are voted in then Labour can expect to be challenged."

Meanwhile in Wolvercote, where Rosie Hilliard is standing as the Tory candidate, the party is campaigning for more to be done about noise and vibration from the railway and for affordable housing commitments to be met at large developments planned there.

The village is set to see some 200 new homes built at the former paper mill site, which is being sold by Oxford University, and another 500 at the Northern Gateway, a science park that will be built next to the A40.

Mrs Hilliard, 67, said: "At the moment everyone in the area is talking about the Northern Gateway and one of my top priorities will be to make sure there is adequate affordable housing.

"In North Oxford we seem to have very little or none, so we need to push for it.

"I would also like to see good walking and cycling links between the Northern Gateway and Oxford Parkway Station, which I think it very important."

She added: "There are also lots of people with houses very, very near to the railway and Network Rail is not doing enough to help them, despite the fact there is going to be freight trains possibly running at night."

THE TORIES’ FIVE-POINT PLAN FOR OXFORD

• Saving you money – Why should many Oxford residents pay £285 more in council tax than in some other parts of Oxfordshire? Conservative-led councils across Oxfordshire have a track record of excellent value for money and top quality public services. Labour’s city council consistently costs residents more for lower-quality services.
   
• Tackling Oxford’s housing crisis – Labour have let down the most vulnerable and have failed to deliver the affordable housing Oxford so desperately needs. Under Labour, Oxford has consistently failed to deliver affordable housing. Official figures show that in 2013/14 not a single affordable home was provided in Oxford and only 10 homes were provided in 2014/15.
   
• ​Supporting local planning – Putting local residents in control of neighbourhood planning to decide where and how developments should take place. We support increased power for local people through the implementation of neighbourhood plans that have been introduced by the Conservatives in government.
   
• Holding Labour to account – Residents have been let down by both the Greens and Lib Dems, who have failed to hold the Labour-run city council to account in Oxford. We are committed to responding to the needs of local residents. Only the Conservatives can ensure a strong opposition to Labour in Oxford.
   
• Supporting our local economy – Oxford businesses, large and small, need support from thecity council not more costs and obstacles imposed by Labour. Across our city local businesses are hampered by the policies of the Labour city council. Local Conservatives are campaigning to get more support for local firms that arethe life blood of our local economy.

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​CONSERVATIVE CANDIDATES IN OXFORD CITY COUNCIL ELECTIONS

• Barton and Sandhills – Timothy Stephen Hamer
• Blackbird Leys – Vanessa Elizabeth Bhagwandin
• Carfax – Alex Curtis
• Churchill – Allan John Selway
• Cowley – Gary WilliamDixon
• Cowley Marsh – Liam Hatch
• Headington – Anthony Ian Gearing
• Headington Hill and Northway – Mark Bhagwandin
• Hinksey Park – Siddo Deva
• Holywell – George Walker
• Iffley Fields – Simon James Bazley
• Jericho and Osney – Jason John Richard Fiddaman
• Littlemore – Daniel Stafford
• Lye Valley – Johnson Mackline Kyeswa
• Marston – Tim Patmore
• North – Robert Vernon Porter
• Northfield Brook – Pat Jones
• Quarry and Risinghurst – Bill Clare
• Rose Hill and Iffley – Lilian Julia Sherwood
• St Clement’s – Dan Gee
• StMargaret’s – Penelope Anne Lenon
• StMary’s – Dominic Heaney
• Summertown – Graham Stanton Jones
• Wolvercote – Rosie Hilliard