THE Conservatives will lose control of South Oxfordshire District Council, with the Liberal Democrats and Greens set to take over.
The authority was set up 45 years ago – and has only been led by other parties for eight of those years.
But the party saw a massive dominance over the council whittled back over the last year and its presence took a further battering yesterday.
In 2015, the party won 33 of SODC’s 36 seats. Yesterday it won just 10.
The Lib Dems, like elsewhere across the country, performed well, securing 12 seats. Before the elections, it had just two and won just one in 2015.
The changes could signal major changes for the authority. The Lib Dems have been vocal opponents of SODC’s Local Plan, which was passed in December and still faces an independent assessment.
David Turner, the Lib Dems’ group’s leader, has been particularly vocal in his opposition to the Chalgrove Airfield development.
That is included in the council’s Local Plan. It could see 3,000 new homes built in the village as part of a project paid for by Government agency Homes England. Mr Turner is Chalgrove’s district councillor.
Elsewhere, the Green Party won five seats. Greens and Liberal Democrats agreed to form a pact in South Oxfordshire ahead of the election and in some wards it seems to have worked well.
The Henley Residents Group also won three seats, while independents three and Labour three. All of Labour’s seats were won in Didcot South.
SOUTH OXFORDSHIRE DISTRICT COUNCIL'S ELECTION WINNERS:
Benson and Crowmarsh
Sue Cooper – Liberal Democrats
Andrea Powell – Green
Berinsfield
Robin Bennett – Green
Chalgrove
David Turner – Liberal Democrats
Chinnor
Lynn Lloyd – Conservative
Ian White – Conservative
Cholsey
Jane Murphy – Conservative
Annie-Marie Simpson – Liberal Democrats
Didcot North East
Victoria Haval – Liberal Democrats
Simon Hewerdine – Independent
David Rouane – Liberal Democrats
Didcot South
Mocky Khan – Labour
Axel Macdonald – Labour
Celia Wilson – Labour
Didcot West
Ian Snowdon – Conservative
Alan Thompson – Conservative
Forest Hill and Holton
Sarah Gray – Liberal Democrats
Garsington and Horspath
Elizabeth Gillespie – Conservative
Goring
Maggie Filipova-Rivers – Liberal Democrats
Haseley Brook
Caroline Newton – Conservative
Henley-on-Thames
Ken Arlett – Henley Residents Group
Stefan Gawrysiak – Henley Residents Group
Kellie Hinton – Henley Residents Group
Kidmore End and Whitchurch
Peter Dragonetti – Independent
Sandford and the Wittenhams
Sam Casey-Rerhaye – Green
Sonning Common
David Bartholomew – Conservative
Leigh Rawlins – Independent
Thame
Pieter-Paul Barker – Liberal Democrats
David Bretherton – Liberal Democrats
Kate Gregory – Liberal Democrats
Wallingford
George Levy – Liberal Democrat
Sue Roberts – Green
Watlington
Anna Badcock – Conservative
Wheatley
Alexandrine Kantor – Liberal Democrats
Woodcote and Rotherfield
Lorraine Hillier – Conservative
Jo Robb – Green
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