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Local Elections: Leader of the Conservatives says “you can’t escape the mood music”
09/05/2023
Barry Wood says it won’t take long for the Conservatives to come back
“You can’t escape the mood music” – the words of Barry Wood, who up until last week’s Local Election results had, for a number of years, been the Conservative Leader at Cherwell District Council.
Despite Councillor Wood’s party still being the largest at Cherwell with twenty seats, they have fallen below the threshold to have overall control.
As the results were read out Councillor Wood was clear where he felt the blame for the Conservative performance fell. He said: “I think there is a high level of recognition of what the District Council has done, the good services that it’s provided and the way we’ve done that with sound money and low taxation.
“I think people appreciate that and know that, but does that get overridden by folk wanting to send a protest vote? I think there’s always the danger of that. Local government is always, as it were, a second fiddle to national opinion making. Folks like me have to live with that.”
The Conservatives lost five seats last week, two in Bicester to the Greens and Liberal Democrats, one in Adderbury, Bodicote and Bloxham and two in Banbury to Labour. One of the Banbury seats had been held by long-serving former Councillor Colin Clarke. Mr Clarke stood down this time.
Elsewhere around the district the rural support for the Conservatives remains strong.
Councillor Wood, who successfully retained his Fringford and Heyfords seat last year, conceded a change in control was coming, but was defiant it wouldn’t be for long.
He said: “For me, this isn’t the first time there’s been this scenario of potential change in control at Cherwell because of a national backdrop. I’ve been through it before.
“I can tell you with confidence that if the Council changes hands it doesn’t take long, only a couple or three years, for the reverse to happen. You come back by increments and then stay in again for another 20 years.
“There is always light at the end of the tunnel, I guess.”
Published: by Banbury FM Newsteam