Oxford students lose out at local elections
Three Oxford students ran in the local elections last week. All three lost out to Conservative Party candidates, but remain open minded about running again in future elections. Joe Ammoun stood as a Liberal Democrat in Kewhurst Ward of Bexhill on Sea. Joe Wales and Tom Quinn stood as Labour candidates in Watsing Ward in Hemel Hempstead and Quainton Ward of Aylesbury Vale respectively. Wales, a Labour candidate and second-year PPEist at Regent’s Park, came third out of six candidates in his election, polling 167 votes.
The two Conservative candidates, both of whom were elected, got over 1000 votes each. Wales said, “Although the area is very conservative, we were trying to make a serious point, and we were particularly trying to raise awareness among young people about the local election. Wales attacked the council’s policies over the past years. “Our Tory council has cut a lot of services at our expense.
A couple of years ago they even demolished the only major place where we could put on a concert or a play for what is now a car park.” In spite of the margin of defeat, Wales said, “I would be quite willing to stand again if we needed another candidate”. Ammoun, a Liberal Democrat candidate and first-year History and Politics student at Teddy Hall, came last but said he was pleased with his performance.
“It was a seat that would have been very difficult to win, since it has always been held by the Conservatives. I won 468 votes, which was between three and four times greater than any Liberal Democrat has won in the ward before”. A spokesman for the Liberal Democrats said, “We’re always pleased to see students getting involved in politics and standing in elections.
We were very supportive of reducing the age at which someone can be a candidate for political office to 18 for precisely this reason.” Quinn, another Labour candidate and Modern History student at University College, came second out of three candidates with 143 votes, beating the Liberal Democrat candidate by 8 votes but losing to the Conservative winner by 630 votes. Quinn was also proud of his performance. He said, “Last time my ward wasn’t even contested by a Labour candidate. We had 60 councillors in the district, none of whom represented Labour."
10th May 2007