Will the elections see more women in power?

Currently, 71% of councillors in the county identify as men and only 29% as women. This is hardly representative. But will this change on May 1st? We crunched the numbers.

Of all candidates standing for the main six parties, 68% are men and 32% women. So, little has changed.

Of the individual parties, the Greens do best with 41% female candidates, with Labour, Liberal Democrats and the Independent Oxford Alliance close behind. Bringing up the rear is Reform, with 15% female candidates and 85% male.

How will the gender balance look once all candidates are elected? Are men being offered the seats that are easier to win? The answer to this depends on the party.

The Conservatives score the lowest with no women predicted to win seats. The Liberal Democrats fare the best, with 48% or close to half of their winning candidates predicted to be female.

The percentage of female Liberal Democrats projected to win is a 10 percentage-point uplift on the percentage of female candidates standing, signifying that the women have slightly better chances of winning seats than the men. 

Overall, we predict that following the election 65% of councillors will be male and 35% female. This is a small improvement on the current council, but still far from representative.