Labour's Geoff Saul on why the party won Chipping Norton in local elections

The West Oxfordshire town has made national headlines in the wake of the May 6 poll, drawing surprise from newspaper pundits and reporters that Geoff Saul had been elected to the Chipping Norton division of Oxfordshire County Council.

In one article in the Times, television presenter Jeremy Clarkson described his 'hometown', famous for its connection to former Prime Minister David Cameron and a host of celebrities, as having 'gone communist' because of 'all the rich people in Range Rovers'.

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But Mr Saul, a solicitor who has lived in the town for the last 20 years, said the shocking election result was not the result of charming the Chipping Norton set, but hard work on the doorstep with the area's residents.

He described them as the 'pretty solid, hardworking people' of Chippy and nearby villages.

Newly elected councillor Mr Saul said: "I'm not aware of having a support base among people with Range Rovers, but who knows? Perhaps I have not been taking notice of the vehicles they have got on the driveway."

Jeremy Clarkson outside his new farm shop Squat Shop in Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire. 22 February 2020..

Other national media which picked up on Mr Saul's victory included the Daily Mail, which postulated that 'fears of a house-building boom' might be responsible for turning Chipping Norton to Labour, while the Guardian speculated it was evidence of a 'blue wall' collapsing in the south of England.

The Labour councillor said he thought he had curried favour with disillusioned Conservative voters who had supported Remain in the 2016 referendum.

Mr Saul, who is also a district councillor, added: "I am not sure it has got much to do with the national picture.

"Originally I stood for the county in 2013... I've carried on fighting the seat ever since. It was probably helped by the fact that the previous councillor Hilary Hibbert-Biles retired. If we were going to take the seat it was going to be this time."

Chipping Norton

Mr Saul won the seat by a majority of 60 over Conservative candidate Maz Holland, and added he had spent time canvassing in the rural areas and villages around Chipping Norton which are part of the council seat.

Mr Saul said: "I don't think some of these villages have ever been represented by a Labour councillor at any level really. And so it needed a lot of things to go right turn around a 400 majority."

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A similar result in Witney also saw his Labour colleague Duncan Enright win a council seat.

Geoff Saul, left, with fellow Labour Oxfordshire county councillors.

Mr Saul's priorities for Chipping Norton on the county council include scrutinising plans for new housing developments in the area, and working on proposals for an HGV ban on roads through the town centre.

On what his victory means for national politics, Mr Saul said he thought Labour should be open to working with other parties across the centre left.

But he added: "I don't think if it came to a general election that the sitting MP Robert Courts would be quaking in his boots. The Witney constituency will still return as a Conservative seat I would have thought."