'Ups and downs' as no majorities won in Oxfordshire

No party remains in overall control of Oxford City Council following the local elections, as Labour's decades long grip on the authority continued to slip.

Thursday's vote saw 24 seats contested across the city - with Labour remaining the authority's largest party, despite losing seats five seats to the Greens.

Elsewhere in the county, West Oxfordshire saw little change with the council remaining under no overall control with the Liberal Democrats remaining the largest party.

Meanwhile, the Lib Dems remain the largest party on Cherwell District Council which also is under no overall control, despite a surge in support for Reform UK.

Overall on Oxford City Council Labour were left five short of a majority with 20 councillors, while the Greens had a good return taking them to 13.

The Lib Dems remain on nine councillors and there are still six independents, whilst the Conservatives and Reform both failed to win a seat.

Leader of the council's Labour group Susan Brown kept her seat on Thursday, and told the BBC it had been a "night of ups and downs".

"But from my perspective we are still the largest group on the City Council - we won more seats than any other party across the city and it's been a night of close-fought battles.

"Now we must digest the results and listen to what the electorate have said to us," she added.

Conversations will now take place over the coming days between the parties to establish how the authority will be led.

This could see the Greens - as the second largest party - act as power brokers.

Chris Jarvis from the party said: "We'll be open to and having conversations with other political parties about what the future for the city looks like.

"We'll be looking to work constructively with other parties to get the best for the residents of this city," he added.

Despite gains across the country, Reform failed to gain any seats on Oxford City Council - joining the Conservatives, who have failed to win an election for the authority since the turn of the millennium.

But Reform's Felix Bloomfield, the party's candidate for the Barton and Sandhills, said it had done "amazingly well" - particularly around east Oxford.

Bloomfield said the party had taken votes "off a whole raft of people", before adding: "We mean business and we're going to be back."

But the picture was better for Reform on Cherwell District Council where they claimed six seats - including that of former Labour group leader Andrew Crichton, Banbury Hardwick.

On winning the ward, former special constable Paul Jeffreys said: "We need to make Banbury better."

"People were really really fed up and they want, they say they want change and Reform is the only party that will do that," he added.

Those wins only made Reform the council's fourth largest party however, with the Conservatives and Labour both still having eight councillors apiece.

Despite the Reform surge, the Lib Dems won an additional four seats meaning they remain Cherwell's largest party, but are still without a majority.

Leader David Hingley said the Lib Dems were "very pleased" with the results on what had been a "very good night".

"For another year in a row, we've increased our number of councillors which means we will end up again the largest party on the council and hope to continue running the council as a result of that," he added.

The Lib Dems previously ran the council with the support of the Green Party and discussions will start now over who will form the next administration.

In West Oxfordshire, the Lib Dems remain the biggest party, with 21 seats overall, followed by the Tories with 16, Labour with eight, the Greens with four, and Reform with one.

It means the most likely scenario is that Labour and the Greens will continue to prop up a Lib Dem-led administration, but talks between parties over the weekend will confirm this.

Lib Dem group leader Andy Graham said it had been a "good result" for the local party.

"People have actually voted for a continuation of what they've been getting, which is a well-run council," he added.

It was a bad day for Labour, who lost the only two seats they were contesting, whilst the Conservatives surprised some by winning three new seats.

Duncan Enright, the Labour group leader, said it had been a "disappointing night" for the party.

"We had some fantastic councillors who are no longer on the council anymore, which is a shame because they're great servants to our community."