Thread by @Davi_Lynch

Morning all. Its the @OxfordCity election count today. Starting at 10am. Follow here for results from the count as it takes place
#LocalElections2021 #LDReporter

There's 48 seats in 24 wards up for grabs
The council usually only elects half of its seats at any one time
But a boundary change (see pic) means all seats are up for election

Labour currently holds a majority with 34 seats, and has historically controlled the council.
See more about the different wards and current political make up of the council here
oxfordmail.co.uk/news/19223416.…

On the bus to town hall now. More soon!

Thr view from the gallery in Oxford Town Hall. Ballot validation took place last night. Vote counting began at 10 and is taking place in three sessions throughout the day

Here's what those sessions look like

View from the counting floor. Conservative agent just told me it is usually "rammed like a cattle market in here"
Very different election count atmosphere than normal. But still a lot of excited people standing around watching

More views from the main hall

Mike Rowley, Labour candidate for Barton and Sandhills said he doesn't expect to see much change in party numbers in the new council.
"There's a few that are always tight marginals, but mostly there will be no change in Oxford."
No Conservatives either, he predicts.

Andrew Gant, Lib Dem group leader says it is the 'old politician's error' to make predictions.
He adds: "All I would say is we have put up a very good manifesto and team of candidates and I'm very proud of all the effort we have put in."
📸 Pictured here with Altaf-Khan

As laid out in the session sheet, the count is taking place across three rooms this year. All looking very opulent here

First results might be coming soon...

While we wait, Lord Mayor Mark Lygo has just told me he walked 27 miles canvassing on polling day
#MoveWithMayorMark indeed

@maryoxford told me she regularly did three miles a day
@AndrewGant3 showed me the holes in his shoe leather
@Alexa_Kantor said she did a three, four hour round of leafleting in Northway regularly
It's been a faster, shorter campaign due to easing of restrictions on March 8

Churchill ward
Labour wins both seats

Carfax and Jericho
Labour wins both seats

Barton and Sandhills
Labour win both seats

Important stlye point, but worth saying... I've not called these results Labour holds because of the new ward boundaries. Sorry if that's confusing...

On Carfax and Jericho, there was a tie vote. After drawing a lot for a extra vote, Lizzie Diggins wins a three year term and Alex Hollingsworth wins a one year term.

This is what a declaration of Office looks like by the way.
Pictured are Lizzie Diggins and Chief Exec Caroline Green

On this 👇 it is important to remember that usually Oxford City Council only elects half of its councillors. Because of the boundary change this year, that has changed. Normal half-council elections will resume after that. Hence why a 1 year term

https://twitter.com/Davi_Lynch/status/1390992507111096323?s=19

Essentially whoever has come second place in each ward will serve a 1 year term. They should have served 2 but Covid postponed the elections. All other future elections are on the original schedule (pandemic allowing)

Donnington
Green win first seat, Labour wins second

Headington
Lib Dems win both seats

Cutteslowe and Sunnymead
Lib Dems win both seats

Cowley
Labour wins both seats

Blackbird Leys
Labour wins both seats

That's the end of the first vote counting session
Two more to go. We are about an hour over expected time

Back after a quick lunchbreak. Here's a pic from one of the count announcements earlier

We are on session 2 at the moment. Slightly behind schedule

One important thing I'd really like to emphasise: Oxford has not had an all-out city council election in many years. No one has been able to say how long, but if you know numbers please share

And because we are not electing by halves, all voters have two votes this time. Because of this ballot counters are having to use a special technique for counting 'split votes' where voters have chosen two candidates from different parties

It involves sticking ballot papers in rows of 25 to these big chart sheets then tallying the votes

However, I am hearing that a lot of people have only made one vote, not realising they had two for the city this time

Headington Hill and Northway
Labour wins both seats

Northfield Brook
Labour wins both seats

Lye Valley
Labour wins both seats

Awaiting a hotly contested seat now. Marston. All major parties standing at least 1 candidate but Mick Haines, an independent Councillor for the area is also standing for re-election. Apparently the area had a very high turnout of more than 50 per cent

Mr Haines said he was unable to doorknock due to illness, but drove around in the car with his daughter, using a megaphone to shout "Stick with Mick!"

Hinksey Park
Labour wins both seats

Spoilt ballot checks give candidates a good chuckle
Was told earlier that one spoilt ballot in Churchill ward contained very neat handwriting and the polite message 'please consider this a spoilt ballot'

Littlemore
Labour wins both seats

Still awaiting Marston and Holywell from this second session
Here's a pic of the lovely decorative ceiling here in the main hall

Marston
Labour wins first seat (Mary Clarkson). 1,059 votes
Mick Haines wins second seat. 921 votes

Not much social distancing at points of excitement... security guards are being very firm with candidates crowding around the declaration tables though.

Speaking of whom, this is Marenglen Cupi (left) and one of his colleagues. He asked me to give a plug for his employers at Scope Security. These gents have been on the job all day (yesterday, tomorrow and Monday too) making sure people stay distant
*Other security is available*

It's been calm today, he said, but at yesterday's verification he said there were a lot of 'headless chickens'

Osney and St Thomas
Labour wins both seats

Holywell
Labour wins both seats

That's the end of the second session, and a bell has been rung to start the third
We are about two hours behind schedule at this point...

Seat numbers so far
LAB 26
LIB DEM 4
GREEN 1
INDY 1

Still 8 wards/ 16 seats left

Short break and time to charge my phone now...

On this - Labour now has more than half of the seats on the council: 26/48

https://twitter.com/Davi_Lynch/status/1391049129435045889?s=19

By the way, that does mean Labour holds the council

Greens are hopeful of winning the new St Mary's ward
Pictured here is current councillor Craig Simmons (standing down) and Chris Jarvis who is hoping to win in the ward
Votes still being tallied but Chris is 'quietly confident'

Greens votes across other English councils have gone up. Here in Oxford they've gained a seat in the new Donnington ward. The rest is TBA

A spoilt ballot now with a bit of an essay on it for the Temple Cowley ward
"For the first time as a left-leaning voter, Starmer's Labour will not have my vote..." and plenty more besides I didn't catch

Plenty of council candidates here having a chat cross party by the way. Lots of them saying hi and catching up after not seeing each other in person for a while

Conservative election agent Nathan Boyd here. His party were hoping to win in Marston.
He said: "I think some of it is Labour are very entrenched in the city. You often hear that winning a seat in Oxford would be like winning a seat in Liverpool."

He adds: "We hoped to win in Marston based on previous results. We fell short there but it is encouraging to see seats where we are coming third and fourth."
The party plans to be out campaigning for the 2022 elections for City Council soon once data from this poll is looked at

Quarry and Risinghurst
...some sort of recount taking place

St Clements
Labour wins boths seats

Walton Manor
Labour wins both seats

St Mary's
Greens win both seats

Wolvercote
Lib Dems win both seats

Quarry and Risinghurst
...another recount

This all centres around who will get a one year term and who will get a three year term. Lib Dems and Labour in the two top positions

https://twitter.com/Davi_Lynch/status/1391079005915389957?s=19

Summertown
Lib Dems win both seats

Temple Cowley
Labour wins first seat
Independent Saj Malik wins second seat

Quarry and Risinghurst
...another, another recount

Getting quiet now. The hall has mostly emptied apart from a few last vote counters on the two remaining wards and a few candidates still awaiting results
Dare I say it is winding up...?

I think we are on recount number 5 for Quarry now

Oh no - 4th recount, fifth overall count

You'll never guess what, they're going for another recount

Rose Hill and Iffley
Labour wins both seats

Just waiting on that Quarry recount now

Just been told a 5th recount is unheard of in Oxford's electoral history. Chatted to a few candidates and they remember three recounts on one occasion

Quarry and Risinghurst
Lib Dems win first seat
Labour wins second

Overall result for Oxford City Council
LAB 34
LIB DEM 9
GREEN 3
INDY 2

Thanks for sticking with me today. Time to go home and furiously scribble out a report on this 👍
#BuyAPaper #LDReporter