Just over seven days before the polling stations open, and three weeks since the candidates for the City Council elections were announced, and my list of bios and personal statements for the candidates in the six OX3 wards who want YOUR vote is still not complete. I’ve kept the information updated as more has come through, but there are still four candidates for whom I have nothing.

Oxford LibDems, I’m calling you out! Just who are Sallie Barnard (Barton & Sandhills), James Reilly (Churchill), Maria Bourbon (Headington Hill & Northway) and Salman Navqi (Marston)? You want us to vote for them? Why? Just because they’re LibDems? Doesn’t it matter whether they live locally or far away, whether they have any experience of local issues or are wet-behind-the-ears newbies to politics? Are they academics? Teachers? Hospital workers? Bringing up a family full-time? Why won’t you tell us?

And it’s not just me. I just re-checked the Oxford Mail website for their lists. Click on these names – nothing. Their own website? Nothing.We have hard-working LibDem Councillors in Headington who have substantial personal votes. They and their potential colleagues are being let down by this silence.

When the candidates for the City Council elections were announced on 25 April I started to look for their personal statements. Who exactly are these people who want our votes? Some of them are well-known: existing Councillors, habitual candidates – others are new to the scene and unknown.

I looked at all the parties’ websites. Labour had a near-complete set of personal statements. The others, nothing. The Greens have something for their existing Councillors, but the statements date back to the 2012 elections and haven’t been updated. Nothing on their new candidates. I searched for and found a very few personal websites for the candidates. Some have twitter accounts where their bios are more or less informative. I didn’t find any facebook pages with anything useful, though as a non-user of facebook I may have missed something.

I contacted all the parties’ local offices asking them for the information I wanted. The Conservatives and UKIP promised me something within a few days and were as good as their word. The Conservative website now has a complete set for all their candidates. UKIP emailed me details of all their candidates. The Greens have said they have prepared statements but can’t let me have them yet. The Oxford LibDems don’t seem to have a central contact point on their website. Local Councillors I know personally have sent me information but the set is not complete.

I’m astonished that the parties seemed so unprepared. I expected they would have all this ready to launch right at the start of the campaign. I imagined they would be putting their candidates’ details on their leaflets and flyers, and would have written them weeks ago. It’s as if they don’t think people will want to know anything about the candidates, that they will just vote for the party. I can see that this is more likely in a General Election, but locally I believe the person counts for a lot.

Anyway, here’s everything I have been able to put together by now, ward by ward (one page for each). The statements are the candidates’ own words (or their agents’). I have only edited out direct political point-scoring which has nothing to do with a candidate’s own qualities and beliefs. For a one-page list of the candidates and their twitter accounts see this page.

Personal statements ward by ward.

• Barton & Sandhills
• Churchill
• Headington
• Headington Hill & Northway
• Marston
• Quarry & Risinghurst

Churchill

Berk Bektas (Con)

I am currently an undergrad at Oxford Brookes University, where I am studying International Relations and History. I came with my family as a toddler to Britain due to the political persecution my father suffered as a Human Rights activist. This is where my interest in politics started. I looked into and studied Britain’s political system, and have always found its history is fascinating, I absolutely love it. Why am I a Conservative? I grew up in a council estate in Islington, moved to Hackney during my teens, and went to a Sixth-Form in Camden. Growing up in these places, I saw many people who seemed to always play the victim; the Britain in which I grew up was one which didn’t incentivise people to work, and to therefore better their situation. I want power returned to the people, and not the state, that’s why I am a Conservative.
Berk Bektas’ twitter account carries the single slogan “Abolish Tuition Fees!”. Other than to reiterate that he is a student he declined to elaborate on this anti-Conservative stance when I contacted him. [1][4]

Susan Brown (Lab)

Grew up in Oxford and has lived here most of her life. Works for the NHS and has two children. Experienced councillor who represented Churchill ward for 13 years (with a 7 year break!). She is particularly proud of the role she played in improvements in housing in the area, the holiday play scheme for young people in Wood Farm and measures to tackle antisocial behaviour. [2]

Julian Faultless (Green)

Has lived in Oxford for nearly twenty years. Teacher of instrumental music to children in schools so has a keen interest in educational issues. Julian has been a resident of Churchill ward for over five years and is happy to be living in a house facing Magdalen wood. He has particular interests in issues of opportunities for local young people, local transport, leisure facilities, recycling and upkeep of the environment. [3] [Update 11/5/14: This current statement is unchanged from 2 years ago apart from changing ‘about’ to ‘nearly’ in the first line.]

James Reilly (LibDem)

No information yet.

David Slater (UKIP)

Dave is a retired teacher having taught for nearly 30 years in Oxfordshire and Wiltshire comprehensive schools. He was born in Liverpool and comes from a working class background which still influences him strongly. Dave believes very strongly in Democracy and joined UKIP because he felt that a referendum on EU membership was long overdue. Youth unemployment is a matter of great concern to him and he believes that the other political parties no longer represent the manual workers of this country. Locally, he is concerned by the piece-meal approach that Oxford council takes to traffic congestion and that a realistic, integrated transport policy is long overdue. Since UKIP councillors are not bound by Party Policy, he promises that the views of local people will be strongly represented on Oxford council. Dave views UKIP as the People’s Party. [5]

Sources
[1] @BerkBBektas
[2] oxfordlabour.org.uk
[3] oxford.greenparty.org.uk.
[4] oxfordshireconservatives.com
[5] By email