Bicester & Woodstock: General election candidate statements

Candidates are listed in order as seen on the Cherwell District Council website. 

Tim Funnell, Social Democratic Party

You may have dismissed the Social Democratic Party as a party from the 1980s, but our foundation was the result of a frustration and rejection of the mainstream party politics, and this 2024 election has seen us rise again.

We are standing 122 candidates and swelling our membership as there is once again a despondency and disappointment with our choice of representatives for Westminster.

The two-party system is failing us and the SDP is providing a pragmatic alternative; we believe that most of our difficulties have cultural roots - indifference, complacency and lack of confidence, and we elect self-serving politicians with short-term objectives.

Remedies are available but require courage and determination.

We can build houses, invest in industry, procure nuclear power stations and defend our national borders - if we elect people who want to do so.

The SDP membership and our candidates are not ‘politicians’, nor are we cranks or obsessives from a minor party, we are proud citizens of this country who feel let down by recent governments and would like to make a difference.

Rupert Harrison, Conservative Party

I live here in Oxfordshire with my wife and two children, and I want to be a local champion for our area and your voice in Parliament.

I’m going to be 100 per cent focused on delivering your priorities: better access to GPs and our NHS by recruiting more local doctors; slowing down the pace of development so that our infrastructure can catch up; helping with the cost of living, especially by rolling out new childcare support; improving the awful state of our roads by holding the County Council to account; more police and safer streets; and protecting our beautiful countryside from inappropriate development like the huge proposed Botley West solar farm.

Most recent polls show that the Conservatives and Labour are neck and neck in this constituency, with the Liberal Democrats behind in third.

I worry a lot about what a Labour Government would mean for our area.

Keir Starmer doesn’t have a plan for the country except for higher taxes, and Labour would just see Oxfordshire as a distant location for their top down housing targets imposed from Westminster.

Our area needs a strong voice to stand up for local people and that’s what I want to be.

Ian Middleton, Green Party

Above all I want to make a difference for my constituents and as a Green MP I would be working for them first and my party second. 

One of the reasons I joined the Green Party was that I would not be whipped by a central committee telling me what to do and how to vote like other parties do.

I’ve long campaigned to protect out NHS and social care system and that’s even more important now that they’ve been hollowed out by the recent pandemic and a lack of government funding.

As an MP I would work to ensure everyone had access to decent health care, including GPs and Dentists.

We need to protect the NHS like it’s protected us for most of our lives.

We also need to improve the availably of genuinely affordable housing which is something I’ve campaigned on for over 10 years.

Improved public services and utilities are also vital, particularly clean water and affordable energy which should be available to everyone.

Of course climate and nature would be at the heart of everything I would stand for as and MP to ensure we all have a liveable planet for our children and future generations.

Calum Miller, Liberal Democrats

If you elect me, I will be the strong local voice our area needs and deserves.

This is my home; I’ve lived here for over a decade with my family and volunteer in our community. I've also worked at the most senior levels of government as a civil servant and had extensive experience running large organisations and budgets.

I will work with you to get things done in our area with hard work and good humour. 

I’m standing for the Liberal Democrats because I want to see a fair deal for people in our country and in our area. 

Our public services are failing while households struggle to meet rising costs. The Conservative government has taken people for granted. We cannot go on like this. 

The good news is that we can have a fresh start in the new constituency of Bicester and Woodstock.

In May’s local elections, Lib Dems won the most votes and had the highest number of councillors elected.

The choice here is between us and Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives.

Thank you to the many former Labour, Conservative and Green voters who have said they will vote for me on 4 July. I hope you will join them.

Veronica Oakeshott, Labour Party

In short, vote for me if you think the country needs change.

I live in Kidlington. My kids go to school locally. My husband runs a business in Bicester. I cared for my late mother in Woodstock.

I’ve seen how brilliant our public services can be.

But I also know how broken they have become. Our NHS is on its knees. Our schools, roads and hospitals are crumbling. The economy isn’t growing.

This is a new constituency. The race is close and polls vary because there’s no history to go from. There are three parties who could win here, but only Labour can deliver change.

Voting Tory means more of the same. More decline and chaos.

The Lib Dems will only ever be a minority party, and it’s difficult to actually change the country from opposition.

Only Labour has a strong chance of winning; a bold plan to change Britain; and the best chance to actually deliver those promises.

And I have a track record of achieving change. I’ve changed laws to crack down on perpetrators of domestic violence and protect the environment. I will be able to use this law-making experience to deliver the change everyone wants.

Augustine Obodo, Reform UK

My name is Augustine Obodo and I am delighted to be standing as the Reform UK candidate in the forthcoming General Election in Bicester and Woodstock constituency.

I work in the NHS, in our local hospital, community pharmacy, and for Health in Justices (HiJ) the UK’s leading independent provider of healthcare services in prisons and immigration removal centres, as a clinician.

I am also an economist and former banker.

Our reader should vote for me because my  vision and policies are to create a thriving, inclusive community where every resident has  the opportunity to succeed ensuring efficient public services, and promoting physical responsibility.

I will promote local businesses in Bicester and the surrounding area.

Our high streets are blighted by empty properties. Reform UK will make sure that Britain is open for business.

Support for local farmers across Bicester and Woodstock constituency. I will  work  closely with Cherwell District Council to preserve our green areas, improve education ,healthcare, security and transport infrastructure  across the constituency.

I will improve all town centres in the Bicester and Woodstock constituency investment in public amenities and helping to boost business.

The state of our roads across Bicester and Woodstock constituency will top my agenda.