Oxfordshire County Council will prioritise tackling deprivation and inequality
Liz Leffman says “my top priority is to make sure that we tackle the deprivation"
The current leader of Oxfordshire County Council say they are determined to tackle deprivation and inequality, following from Liberal Democrats winning a majority.
Lib Dems won 36 seats in the County election on Friday, which is the first time the party has secured majority control of the local authority.
The last time a party won by a majority was back in 2009 when the Conservative’s won Oxfordshire County Council election.
Before this year’s election, 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.
Liz Leffman, current leader of the County Council said: “Our slogan during the last four years is that we wanted Oxford to be fairer, healthier and greener. That will continue to be the case. That's we're going to be working towards making it a better place for everybody to live.”
She added: “My top priority is to make sure that we tackle the deprivation and the inequalities in this county.
“It is absolutely key because, although people think of Oxfordshire as a very green, leafy, well off place, there's a lot of deprivation. We know that rural deprivation is a big issue. We need to make sure that people can use public transport, we need to make it possible for people to travel comfortably by cycling, by using bus rather than using their cars. These are the sorts of things are really important.”
“It is going to be a continuation of what we’re doing, but it does mean that we have control of our budget, which will make a big difference. So, we can really decide how we want to use the money that's available to us in the county without having to make concessions to other parties”, she adds.