Liberal Democrats win Oxfordshire County Council election with their first ever majority
Liberal Democrats have won Oxfordshire County Council election, taking 36 seats out of 69
Last updated 2nd May 2025
The Liberal Democrats have won a majority in the 2025 Oxfordshire County Council election, after winning 36 seats and 30% of votes.
Reform UK had 17.8% of votes but only secured the one seat, whilst Labour have 12 seats, Conservatives 10, and Greens 7.
The County Council provide around 85% of local government services by expenditure, with an annual gross budget of around £955 million.
Services provided include adult and children’s social care, some education services, public health, fire and rescue, libraries and museums, roads and transport, trading standards, waste disposal and recycling.
This could be the last county council election in Oxfordshire, as local government may be reorganised over the next four years.
The government has announced plans to scrap the current two-tier system which is currently in place, with both district and a county council.
Local authorities have been asked to prepare plans for changes to the system in 2028.
The results:
Before yesterday’s vote, the authority was run by a coalition of the Liberal Democrats and the Green Party since 2023, after Labour pulled out of a three-party alliance formed following the 2021 election.
Now, Liberal Democrats came ahead of the polls with 30% votes, winning a majority in Oxfordshire which hasn't been held since the Conservatives won in 2009.
Leader, Liz Leffman retained her position /has been defeated, making way for XXXX.
Turnout was 35.6%.
Here’s how many seats are held by which party across the county:
Lib Dem: 36
Labour: 12
Conservative: 10
Green: 7
Reform UK: 1
Other/independent: 3
The electoral map had been re-drawn, meaning that a total of 69 councillors has been elected which is 6 more than the previous election.
Although, until the 2013 election the county council had 74 county councillors covering all parts of Oxfordshire.
Elections 2025
Elsewhere in today’s elections, Nigel Farage's Reform UK secured victory by six votes over Labour in Runcorn and Helsby as Sir Keir Starmer failed his first by-election test as Prime Minister.
The narrow victory for new MP Sarah Pochin saw Reform taking a constituency which Labour won with a majority of almost 14,700 less than 12 months ago.
Labour says while it "suffered an extremely narrow defeat, the shock is that the Conservative vote has collapsed".
Meanwhile, another first for Reform as Andrea Jenkyns has been elected the Mayor of Greater Lincolnshire.
While the party won over a handful of MP constituencies last year, it still gathered a wave of public support.