West Oxfordshire is a local government district in northwest Oxfordshire, England, including towns such as Woodstock, Burford, Chipping Norton, Charlbury, Carterton and Witney, where the council is based.

West Oxfordshire District
Non-metropolitan district
Witney, the largest-settlement and administrative centre of the district.
West Oxfordshire shown within Oxfordshire
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Constituent country	England
Region	South East England
Non-metropolitan county	Oxfordshire
Status	Non-metropolitan district
Admin HQ	Witney
Incorporated	1 April 1974
Government
• Type	Non-metropolitan district council
• Body	West Oxfordshire District Council
• Leadership	Leader & Cabinet
• MPs	Robert Courts
Area
• Total	275.83 sq mi (714.40 km2)
• Rank	54th (of 309)
Population  (mid-2019 est.)
• Total	110,643
• Rank	216th (of 309)
• Density	400/sq mi (150/km2)
• Ethnicity	98.4% White
Time zone	UTC0 (GMT)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+1 (BST)
ONS code	38UF (ONS) E07000181 (GSS)
OS grid reference	SP3591610698
Website	www.westoxon.gov.uk

Area

The area is mainly rural downland and forest, the main activities being farming and associated trades.

The district was created on 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, by the merger of Chipping Norton Municipal Borough, Woodstock Municipal Borough, Witney Urban District, Chipping Norton Rural District and Witney Rural District.[1]

West Oxfordshire lies within the River Thames catchment area, with the Thames itself and its tributaries including the River Evenlode and River Windrush running through the area.[2] Parts of the district suffered severe flooding during the 2007 floods in the UK.[3]

Governance

West Oxfordshire District Council
Type
Type	Non-metropolitan district council
Leadership
Leader of the Council	Andy Graham, Liberal Democrat since 18 May 2022[4]
Structure
Seats	49
Political groups	Administration (26)   Liberal Democrats (15)   Labour (9)   Green (2) Opposition (23)   Conservatives (20)   Independent (3)
Elections
Last election	5 May 2022
Meeting place
Council Offices, Woodgreen, Witney, OX28 1NB
Website
https://www.westoxon.gov.uk/

Elections to West Oxfordshire District Council are held in three out of every four years, with one third of the seats on the council being elected at each election. Since the first election to the council in 1973 the only political party to have had a majority on the council is the Conservative Party, although there have been periods where no party has had a majority and independents had a majority from 1973 to 1976 and from 1990 to 1992. The council went into no overall control following the 2022 local elections with the Liberal Democrats agreeing to form an executive with Labour and the Greens. Liberal Democrat Andy Graham subsequently became the leader of the council.[5]

As of the 2022 local elections, the council consisted of the following councillors:[6]

Headquarters

The council is based at the former Witney Rural District Council offices on Woodgreen in Witney. The building was built as a large house in 1887 for one of the town's blanket manufacturers, and was originally known as Springfield, 39 Woodgreen.[7][8][9] The building was acquired by Witney Rural District Council around 1966 and is now known as Council Offices, Woodgreen.

References

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