With candidates submitting their papers to contest a new Oxfordshire constituency on behalf of the Conservative Party at the next general election, a councillor has revealed he is hoping to be selected.
Oxfordshire County Councillor and leader of the Conservative Group Eddie Reeves has told the Oxford Mail he is vying to be the Conservative Party’s candidate for the Bicester and Woodstock seat at the next general election.
Due to boundary changes, MP Victoria Prentis had to decide whether she wanted to stand in the Banbury constituency or the Bicester and Woodstock constituency, and she opted for the former.
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Mr Reeves said he was confident “a huge number of excellent candidates” would come forward from “across the country” but said the constituency needed “a local candidate with a strong track record of campaigning on issues that matter most to residents across the constituency”.
Criticising other candidates, Mr Reeves highlighted that “unlike others, I am not standing in multiple seats across the country” and he made the commitment to keep his focus on “challenging Labour and Liberal Democrat councillors” in Oxfordshire in the meantime.
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Speaking exclusively to the Oxford Mail, Mr Reeves heaped praise on the constituency and pointed to the area’s “fast growing and well connected town of Bicester” and suggested the Kidlington area could “soon become the economic driver”.
Mr Reeves suggested the county should not become too Oxford-centric and urged people to look at his track record of putting pressure on the Liberal Democrats and the Labour Party.
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Mr Reeves said his track record showed he would continue to challenge the “Liberal Democrat and Labour induced school bus scandal, the declining state of children services and Oxford’s divisive traffic filters”.
Liberal Democrat and leader of the council Liz Leffman and Labour Party councillor Liz Brighouse said in a joint statement:
“Cllr Reeves' so-called 'school bus scandal' was begun in 2013 by the Conservatives, who ended the right to transport to catchment area schools.
"Over the next three years about £3m was cut from Oxfordshire's School Transport Budget by the Conservative administration.
"In 2010 the Conservatives decided to cut funding for "Every Child Matters" introduced by Labour, causing children's centres to close and damaging the life chances of many children.
"Children's services across the country are chronically underfunded thanks to Conservative cuts.
"The LTNs, traffic filters and ZEZ were all in the Conservative Local Transport Plan inherited by the new rainbow administration.
"All were planned before the 2021 elections. The funding for the LTNs was awarded to the previous administration by the Conservative government.
"Cllr Reeves was a member of the previous Conservative administration.
"He either has a very short memory or has decided that he does not agree with Conservative policy.
"Nevertheless, we wish him well in his pursuit of the Bicester selection.”
Speaking about his attachment to the area, Mr Reeves said: “I grew up and went to school nearby and I have chosen to make my life here.
“I have worked as a solicitor across Bicester, Woodstock and the surrounding area, and I have served both urban and rural patches as a district and county councillor in North Oxfordshire.
“I am ready to step up and take residents’ views to parliament, and it would be the honour of my life to represent such a diverse and beautiful constituency as Bicester and Woodstock.”
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In the past, Mr Reeves has been extremely critical of the county council’s proposed traffic filters, which are set to be installed in the city after the revamp of Oxford train station has taken place, and has accused them of acting in “bad faith” during the traffic filters consultation.
Oxfordshire County Council did not respond when contacted for comment.
The North Oxfordshire Conservative Association has been approached for comment as to when their chosen candidate can be expected to be announced.
The association is yet to comment.
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Ed specialises in writing political stories for the Oxford Mail and The Oxford Times.
He joined in the team in February 2023, after completing a History undergraduate degree at the University of York and studying for his NCTJ diploma in London.
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