Oxford City Council

Oxford City Council
Half of council elected every other year
Type
Type	Non-metropolitan district council of Oxford
Houses	Unicameral
Term limits	None
History
Founded	1 April 1974
Leadership
Leader	Bob Price, Labour
Lord Mayor	Mohammed Altaf-Khan Since 17 May 2016
Structure
Seats	48
Labour	35 / 48
Liberal Democrats	8 / 48
Green	4 / 48
Independent	1 / 48
Elections
Voting system	First past the post
Last election	2016 (half of councillors)
Next election	2018 (half of councillors)
Motto
Fortis Est Veritas
Meeting place
Oxford Town Hall, St Aldate's, Oxford
Website
http://www.oxford.gov.uk

Oxford City Council provides local government for the city of Oxford in England.

Between the 2004 local elections, and 2010 the council was in minority administration, first by councillors from the Labour Party, with the Liberal Democrats being the official opposition. In 2006 these roles were reversed, although two years later the council returned to being run by a minority Labour administration. before they took full control in 2010. Despite the stereotypical view of Oxford as a conservative city, there are no elected Conservatives on the city council. The Independent Working Class Association was represented for a decade between 2002 and 2012.

Since 2002, elections have been held for Oxford City Council in even years, with each councillor serving a term of four years. Each electoral ward within Oxford is represented by two councillors, thus all wards elect one councillor at each election. Prior to 2002, the City Council was elected by thirds.

In early 2003, the Oxford City Council submitted a bid to become a unitary authority. This was received by the Department for Communities and Local Government but subsequently rejected.

Since 2008, Oxford City Council has been undergoing a programme of Business Transformation which has now been delivered in to the City Council.

Oxford City Council contains all of the Oxford East parliamentary constituency, which was won by Labour in the 2010 General Election with an increased majority but was until then a highly marginal seat with the Liberal Democrats. The Council also covers part of the Oxford West and Abingdon parliamentary constituency, which was won from the Liberal Democrats by the Conservatives at the 2010 General Election, albeit with a very small majority. Labour and the Conservatives have since massively increased their majorities in their respective constituencies following the collapse of the Liberal Democrat vote at the 2015 general election.