PRESS RELEASE Pro-climate candidates can win in Oxford on 7th May

• Pro-climate parties could win seats in Oxford – if voters vote tactically
• The most marginal seats, where pro-climate tactical voting will have the greatest impact, are: Hinksey Park, Walton Manor and Cowley

With the Green Party on the rise and Labour and the Tories in the polling doldrums, research by VoteClimate reveals an historic opportunity to elect record numbers of climate-friendly councillors on May 7th. VoteClimate forecasts huge gains for the Greens and Liberal Democrats – the most pro-climate parties – with a tactical vote based on VoteClimate’s recommendations seeing further pro-climate gains, sending the strongest possible signal to the main parties that voters want urgent action on climate and nature.

VoteClimate reviewed the parties’ climate policies and combined this with analysis of opinion polling to provide a pro-climate tactical voting recommendation in every individual election on May 7th. With its hyper-local recommendations, VoteClimate can help voters elect pro-climate councillors in Oxford. Based on its analysis, VoteClimate is backing the Greens – the party with the strongest position on climate and nature – in 18 seats, where they have the best chance of winning. In a further 6 seats, VoteClimate backs the Lib Dems – the next-best party for climate – in the seats where they have a better chance of winning than the Greens.

Most marginal seats in Oxford revealed

Pro-climate parties are expected to win 13 seats. However, a small swing of less than 50 votes could see the pro-climate parties win an extra 3 seats. The most marginal seats, where pro-climate tactical voting will have the greatest impact, are: Hinksey Park, Walton Manor and Cowley.

VoteClimate can help voters push climate back up the political agenda

VoteClimate director Ben Horton said: “The climate emergency is accelerating and it’s time our politicians acted like it. At VoteClimate, we offer voters the tools to take action by electing councillors who will make climate a top priority – and to tell the government that climate change is a major election issue for many voters. We urge anyone who is concerned about the climate emergency to use VoteClimate to find the best choice in the upcoming election – and to tell their friends and family too.”

Voters can type in their postcode to VoteClimate’s local elections hub at voteclimate.uk/local-elections to see their pro-climate choice for the May elections and hit ‘Join now’ to receive pro-climate voting recommendations by email for future local and general elections.

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NOTES TO EDITORS

Media contact

Ben Horton

07746 726694

About VoteClimate

VoteClimate empowers voters to pressure the mainstream parties into taking action that matches the scale of the climate emergency. We do this by turning the first-past-the-post system on its head. We look at polling data to identify the best vote for climate in each constituency – and share our recommendation for our members to use when deciding how to vote when local, devolved and general elections come around.

About the methodology

• Ranking parties by climate policy: VoteClimate ranked the parties’ climate policies based on a review of the parties’ 2024 manifesto commitments and policy announcements since the general election – as well as Labour’s record in office. The Greens followed by the Lib Dems had the best policies to reduce emissions.

• Reaching a tactical voting recommendation: VoteClimate combined the swings in national opinion polls with the previous elections in 2,600 constituencies to come up with a forecast in each seat, forming the basis of their recommendation for the strongest vote for climate and nature in each individual election.