Once a year, residents across Cherwell get a chance to choose who should represent their area in local government; this year the elections are all for councillor positions on Cherwell District Council.

Many residents may have already voted (if you haven’t already, consider getting a postal vote for next year – it saves any hassle with queuing or just finding time to get to the polling station!).

But many will still be thinking it over.  Who will you vote for?  Will you vote?  Does local government even matter?

Yes. Local government matters. It’s not the sensational newspaper headlines of big Westminster decisions. Cherwell District Council isn’t going to double income tax, announce a mission to Mars, or annex South Northamptonshire. But it does have a huge say in how our area develops. Every year, decisions are made which define Banbury, Bicester, Kidlington and villages across North Oxfordshire for the years and decades to come. What will Bicester High Street look like in 3 years? What about bus links in Deddington? Access to a GP in Ruscote? What about new build housing in Adderbury, or in Bucknell?

Every time decisions are made, local councillors have a choice.  They can vote along party lines, or they can make a stand on what is best for the communities they represent. If you vote for a councillor who never speaks up, never makes that stand stand, or if you just don’t vote at all, you are choosing to have no voice; choosing to have no say when a pothole goes unfixed for years, or local facilities close, or a massive industrial warehouse is planned at the end of your street.

Areas in Cherwell that have Labour councillors know what a difference a committed local representative can make, and across Cherwell our councillors, though in opposition, have pressured the Conservatives majority to do the right thing on cross-district policies, whether that’s reversing cuts to CCTV that undermined public safety, supporting workers at Jacobs Douwe Egberts or forgoing a rise in councillor allowance when so many are struggling. But when Conservative councillors consistently vote en bloc to push policies through, their majority allows them to do things like raise the allowance without having to justify their actions. And it gives them complete control of the planning process that determines the future of our area.

We think it’s high time for a change in Cherwell; a change for more accountability and more representation of community interests. We hope you agree, and if you do, please go out tomorrow and VOTE.

You can find a full list of all our candidates in tomorrow’s election, and a list of our manifesto pledges here.