The Witney North by-election for Witney North town council is happening on Thursday 29^th August.

If you can help Brigitte Hickman - longtime green campaigner and wonderful local person - then please do!

A by-election on August 29^th means we have a chance to get a second Green elected to Witney Town Council. Witney North is our  target ward for the District Council elections next May, so it is really important that we strengthen our base. 

Brigitte Hickman, a former teacher and a founder and director of the Windrush Bike Project, has campaigned actively on many local issues in the 25 years that she has lived in the ward. When elected, she will become the second Green Party town councillor in Witney, joining Andrew Prosser, who was elected in May with the largest share of the vote.

The main action day is Saturday 24th August - but if you can help another time to get in touch. Sign up for one or more shifts below or contact Frances Mortimer to let her know when you can help.

Action Day: Saturday 24 August.

Yesterday there were 2 Green Party councillors serving in Oxfordshire councils. Now there are 9.

For the first time we have Green councillors in Cherwell, the Vale and 5 in South Oxfordshire.

See the video recordings of this popular event.

We need more Green councillors in Oxfordshire

Could you follow in the footsteps of our Green Party councillors in Oxford, and stand for election? You could improve the quality of our councils by representing the people and views that the governing parties ignore.

Or you could help organise events and campaigns in your ward. Could you get local people to come out and join the campaign?

In May 2020 there will be elections for 2 councillors in each of the new Oxford City wards, and 1/3 of the counclllors in Cherwell and West Oxfordshire district councils. Then in 2020 

We need candidates to start right now, preparing for the elections in 2020. Voters like to vote for people they have heard from over time, rather than those who just turn up in the last few weeks.

We will arrange meet a Green councillors sessions, where you can find out what Green city, town and parish councillors do and how they got elected.

What you need to do to stand as a candidate

Do you want to win, or just to stand? If you just want to give people in your area a chance to vote Green, rather than being forced to vote for another party, you just need to get your name on the ballot paper. On the other hand, if you want to help people as an elected councillor, you need to run a serious campaign as a candidate in a target seat.

Non-target candidates

There are places where we cannot win in the next election. It takes time to grow the Green Party in a ward until there are enough local supporters to run a campaign to win. In those areas we need a candidate to stand, while a ward organiser can run a few events and campaigns on local issues until the Green Party and the candidate are better known.

All you need to do as a non-target candidate is:

1. Get nominated. You need to get 10 voters in your ward to sign a form saying they think you should be allowed to stand. They don't need to vote for you, or be Green supporters. They can be friends, family, or just neighbours.
2. Supply a photograph suitable for the web site.
3. Write a short election statement for the web site. A bit about yourself, and a bit about what you would do if elected.

If you are interested, sign up on the candidates wanted page.

Target candidates

There are a number of seats where we have won, or came close to winning in the past. If you don't know what a councillor does, take at look at this councillor role description.

Obviously, such a campaign needs more work than just getting nominated. Candidates are expected to take an active role in their election campaign, including:

• join a campaign team, including a campaign manager, and senior roles to manage volunteers, publicity, data and fundraising,
• work with your team to implement a campaign plan,
• talk to hundreds of voters on the doorstep and at other events,
• taking part in campaign team decisions, including campaign messages,
• respond to voters questions and concerns.

Candidates selected for target seats who commit to work hard enough to win will get support from the Oxfordshire Green Party, including guidance, opportunities for training and mentoring, technical support and funding.

We are committed to supporting people stand for election. If you have support needs to allow you to stand for election—from childcare to disability support needs—please discuss these with us soon so we can arrange support. Being in the Green Party means we are committed to work as a team, no one has to do anything alone, we will find a way to help in any aspect of campaigning and when people become Councillors.

If you are interested in winning a seat, let us know on the candidates wanted page, then go on to complete the candidate application questionnaire.

In 2019 we elected 7 district councillors outside Oxford, thanks to your support. We now have Green councillors working for you in Cherwell, Oxford, South Oxfordshire and the Vale of White Horse as well as in many parish and town councils. Now we need to start campaigning to win more in May 2020. There are elections in West Oxfordshire and Cherwell District. In Oxford City, people will be electing two councillors in each ward on new boundaries. That means our candidates stand a good chance of winning in many more places in Oxford.

To do that we need to campaign all year round. We need to print, design and deliver over a dozen ward newsletters and leaflets in all the wards where we could win. That cost money. To fund such a big campaign, we need to raise £5,300.

Please give whatever you can afford:

• £5 can pay for a canvassing pack to equip a volunteer.
• £15 will print 500 posters for a town.
• £25 pays for a Facebook advertisement.
• £40 pays for mobile phone canvassing for a month.
• £100 pays for 5000 leaflets to get Green supporters to vote.
• £250 will pay for an advertisement in all the free newspapers in Oxfordshire.
• £600 pays for one months work by our staff.

Donate to our fighting fund now. Give a little, or give a lot, whatever you can afford. Thank you.

Keeping your data safe

The Oxfordshire Green Party is committed to protecting your privacy, including online, and in the transparent use of any online information you give us in accordance with our legal obligations. This Privacy Policy sets out in detail the purposes for which we process your personal data, who we share it with, what rights you have in relation to that data and everything else we think it's important for you to know.

Personal data means data which relate to a living individual who can be identified:

1. from those data, or
2. from those data and other information which is in the possession of, or is likely to come into the possession of, the data controller,

and includes any expression of opinion about the individual and any indication of the intentions of the data controller or any other person in respect of the individual.

Who are we?

The Oxfordshire Green Party
81B Donnington Bridge Road, Oxford OX4 4BA

Whos in control?

It is important that you understand who is responsible for keeping your data safe. We are the "controller" of all personal data collected and used by the Oxfordshire Green Party for the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy. This means that we are responsible for deciding how and why your data is used and for ensuring that your data is handled legally and safely.

What data do we collect and where from?

Website subscription forms

We collect the details you submit to us when you complete an online form on greenoxfordshire.com, asking us to keep you updated on party activities and related issues.

Petitions and Surveys

We also collect information that you voluntarily provide to us when you respond to petitions or surveys including your responses to any questions they might ask.

Membership Signups

When you join as member of the party we receive from the Green Party of England and Wales all the details you provide including contact details and any other details that are voluntarily provided.

Cookies and IP addresses

We collect information about how you interact with our websites using Cookies and your connections Internet Connection (IP) Address if your browser is set to accept/provide such.

The Electoral Register

As a political party we are provided with access to the electoral registers in Oxfordshire for the purposes of canvassing and promotion.

Social Media

We also collect publicly available information from social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, for example likes, shares, tweets and posts about the Oxfordshire Green Party and its activities and campaigns. This information is provided to us by the third party social media platform.

What do we use your data for?

We use the data you provide us to communicate with our membership and supporters about party business, activities and campaigns. From time to time we will also communicate with you about fundraising campaigns we run in order to finance the operation of the local party and/or support specific causes.

We use your data, including any voluntarily provided information, to choose which campaigns or Party activity we believe may be of interest to you. Our communications may be via Post, Telephone, Text message, Email or Social Media.

Your address information (where provided) is used to identify the Green Party branch in your area and may be used in an automated way to inform you of campaigns of local geographical relevance.

As a Political Party we use your expressed political opinions to information our campaigning including what issues we promote, how we contact you and what we say to you.

What is our legal basis for using your data?

In order to hold and process your data we are obliged to identify the lawful basis upon which we do so. The lawful basis is different for the different purposes identified above.

Purpose: Informing Members and Supporters of Green Party Activities and campaigns

Lawful Basis: Public task

We process this personal data on the basis that we have a legitimate interest in ensuring that we communicate effectively with actual and potential supporters of the Green Party and its campaigns. This ensures that we can continue to represent supporters views in a democratic way. and to help us generate revenue to fund our political activities.

Purpose: Communicating with Members about their membership and constitutional role within the Party.

Lawful Basis: Public task

We process your membership and personal data with respect to your membership position inline with the contract entered into upon joining the party. As a membership organisation we require that we be able to communicate with members about constitutional issues (such as leadership elections, candidate selection, our AGM and business meetings, and changes to the constitution).

Purpose: General Purpose Direct Marketing

Lawful basis: Public task.

We will only send email marketing messages to supporters where we have your consent to do so. Your consent may be obtained verbally, on paper. or via electronic means, for example signing up to receive updates from the party via email.

Purpose: Canvassing of Political Opinions

Lawful Basis: Public task.

As a political party we have a legitimate interest in understanding the political opinions of the UK electorate both nationally and on local campaigns and issues. Political opinions are classed as ‘special category’ data under data privacy legislation and our processing of this data is in accordance with Article 9 (g) of the General Data Protection Regulations which states that “processing is necessary for reasons of substantial public interest, on the basis of Union or Member State law…”

Who do we share your data with?

Local branches within Oxfordshire and the national office

The data we have is kept by the Oxfordshire  Green Party. Data you provide will be shared between the Oxfordshire Green Party, our local branches in Oxfordshire, and the Green Party of England and Wales national office.

Donations and financial information

The personal details you provide will be held internally by our finance officers and will be shared with the Electoral Commission  in the case where your donations exceed declarable threshold of £1,500 per year for our local party (see http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk for current thresholds). The personal details you provide will be held internally and the bank details you provide will be kept securely by our payment processor Paypal. Your bank details will only be shared with your bank and ours.

Third Party Platforms

Google

The Oxfordshire Green Party website uses Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google, Inc. (Google). Google Analytics uses cookies, which are text files placed on your computer, to help the website analyse how users use the site. The information generated by the cookie about your use of the website (including your IP address) will be transmitted to and stored by Google on servers in the United States.

Google will use this information for the purpose of evaluating your use of the website, compiling reports on website activity for website operators and providing other services relating to website activity and internet usage. Google may also transfer this information to third parties where required to do so by law, or where such third parties process the information on Google's behalf. Google will not associate your IP address with any other data held by Google. You may refuse the use of cookies by selecting the appropriate settings on your browser. By using this website, you consent to the processing of data about you by Google in the manner and for the purposes set out above. We use Google Analytics to make sure our online campaigning is as effective as possible, and it is also one of the ways we make sure that this website is clear and usable.

You can read Google's privacy policy here for further information.

Facebook

With your permission, our website utilises the Conversion Tracking Pixel service of Facebook Inc., 1601 S. California Ave., Palo Alto, CA 94304, USA (“Facebook”). This tool allows us to follow the actions of users after they are redirected to a provider’s website by clicking on a Facebook advertisement. We are thus able to record the efficacy of Facebook advertisements for statistical and market research purposes.

The collected data remain anonymous. This means that we cannot see the personal data of any individual user. However, the collected data are saved and processed by Facebook. We are informing you on this matter according to our information at this time.

Facebook is able to connect the data with your Facebook account and use the data for their own advertising purposes, in accordance with Facebook’s Data Use Policy found here. Facebook Conversion Tracking also allows Facebook and its partners to show you advertisements on and outside Facebook. In addition, a cookie will be saved onto your computer for these purposes.

NationBuilder

Like many political parties and campaigning groups in the UK, we use the services of NationBuilder Inc., 520 S. Grand Ave., 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90071 to host this website and to manage communications with our contacts, including members, volunteers and supporters. NationBuilder's privacy policy is here. They provide enough security and privacy to enable us to meet our legal obligations to you.

Other processors

From time to time we may need to share some of your data with third party data processors (such as technology providers, website hosts, online systems). Where we do so we will have a data processing agreement with the third party, and where they are located outside the European Economic Area (EEA) we will ensure that they provide enough security and privacy to enable us to meet our legal obligations to you.

How long do we keep your data for?

Where you join as a member of the party your data will be held for as long as you maintain your membership. If your membership lapses, your status will change to a supporter.

Where you have identified as a supporter your data will be held until such time as you unsubscribe from receiving communications from the party.

Where you have donated to the party or one of its campaigns the related data will be held for a period of 5 years to ensure we can comply with financial regulations.

What rights do you have?

You have a number of rights under data protection law. Some of these rights and how you can exercise them are set out in this section, more information can be found from the Information Commissioners office (https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-the-general-data-protection-regulation-gdpr/individual-rights/).

We will normally need to ask you for proof of your identity before we can respond to a request to exercise any of the rights in this section and we may need to ask you for more information, for example to help us to locate the personal data that your request relates to.

The right to be informed

You have the right to be informed as to how we use your data and under what lawful basis we carry out any processing. This privacy policy sets this information out however if you would like further information or feel that your rights are not being respected please email <admin@greenoxfordshire.com>.

A right to access your information

You have a right to ask us to send you a copy of your all personal data that we hold about you (subject to some exceptions). A request to exercise this right is called a "subject access request" and must be made in writing to: <admin@greenoxfordshire.com> or to: Data Protection Officer, Oxfordshire Green Party, 81B Donnington Bridge Road, Oxford OX4 4BA.

A right to object to us processing your information

You have a right to object to us processing any personal data that we process where we are relying on legitimate interests as the legal basis of our processing. You also have the right to withdraw your consent from our processing that requires it (such as our email communications). Every communication will have an option for you to withdraw your consent directly, or you can email <admin@greenoxfordshire.com> at any time to exercise this right.

A right to ask us not to market to you

You have the right to opt-out of any marketing or personally addressed direct mailings we send to you. If the communication is electronic it will include simple links and instructions to ‘unsubscribe’. For other media please email <admin@greenoxfordshire.com> or write to Data Protection Officer, Oxfordshire Green Party, 81B Donnington Bridge Road, Oxford OX4 4BA.

A right to have inaccurate data corrected

You have a right to ask us to correct inaccurate data that we hold about you. If we are satisfied that the new data you have provided is accurate, we will correct your personal data as soon as possible.

A right to have your data erased

You have a right to ask us to delete your personal data in certain circumstances, for example if we have processed your data unlawfully or if we no longer need the data for the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy.

A right to have processing of your data restricted

You can ask us to restrict processing of your personal data in some circumstances, for example if you think the personal data is inaccurate and we need to verify its accuracy, or if we no longer need the data but you require us to keep it so that you can exercise your own legal rights. Restricting your personal data means that we only store your personal data and don't carry out any further processing on it unless you consent or we need to process the data to exercise a legal claim or to protect a third party or the public.

To exercise any of the rights above please email <admin@greenoxfordshire.com> or write to Data Protection Officer, Oxfordshire Green Party, 81B Donnington Bridge Road, Oxford OX4 4BA.

To further understand your rights please visit the website of the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at http://www.ico.gov.uk.

Ian Middleton (Kidlington East Ward) needs your help to get elected as a Green Councillor next May.
Without Green and Liberal Democrat councillors there will be virtually no one left to: 
HOLD THE CONSERVATIVE-RUN COUNCIL TO ACCOUNT

PROTECT THE GREEN BELT FROM THE HUGE HOUSING DEVELOPMENT FILLING THE GAP BETWEEN KIDLINGTON AND OXFORD

Please complete the volunteer form below:

How can I help print and fold the leaflets we deliver to voters in Oxfordshire? How can I get training in operating our printer?

If you cannot collect a poster at a Green Party stall, you can order Green Party posters here.

Prices

Or you can make a larger donation to our election campaign.

Let's make everyone in Oxfordshire aware of the Green Party. Let's put up posters everywhere where there are elections.

We have small A4 posters you can put in your window, bigger A3 posters for large windows or to put on a garden stake, and some large Green Party boards that can be seen from a distance.

Tick the types of poster you can display, then leave a comment saying how many you need.

Or if you just want one or two posters, print this PDF.

You can help us campaign to win in Oxfordshire by telephoning people. We need people to:

• Invite supporters who have offered to help to come to action days.
• Talk to new members to find out what they would like to do.
• Call voters in places we cannot reach, such as rural villages and blocks of flats, to find out whether they might vote green.
• Ask for regular donations so we can build the party and extend our campaigns.

If you would like to help, even if only for 30 min. each week, please fill in this form to join our virtual call centre.

If you have a question for Larry Sanders, Green Party candidate for the Witney by-election on 20 October, please fill in the form below.

To donate or volunteer click the buttons on the right, or sign up for a Larry for Witney event.

Email: larry@greenoxfordshire.com
Phone: 01993 460014
Campaign office: Hexagon Business Centre, Avenue Four, Station Lane, Witney (opposite Sainsburys).

The green party has pledged to make britain fairer and less divided. We can do better.

Witney needs

• a rail line to end the A40 gridlock that cripples our economic and social life
• the right housing in the right place: affordable homes that don’t harm the environment
• an end to NHS cuts and hospital closures
• an end to the pointless cruelty of austerity. We should borrow cheaply to invest in schools, children’s centres, day centres, libraries, andmaintain roads and pavements
• a decent rural bus service
• decent prospects for our young people
• a comfortable retirement for our old people

Larry Sanders' priorities

• reduce unemployment and underemployment
• reverse privatisation of the NHS and fund it properly
• make social care free at the point of need
• introduce proportional representation so that all votes count
• ensure the richest individuals and corporations pay their full taxes
• introduce a minimum wage of £10 an hour
• end tuition fees
• restore maintenance grants for students and apprentices
• introducing rent controls to ensure better security for tenants
• invest in renewables and building insulation to fight climate change for the sake of our children and grandchildren

How can we afford this?

The Bank of England has created hundreds of billions of pounds in the last eight years for the banks. We should invest at
least some of this in essential infrastructure and services to create real wealth. This way, we could have a world class quality of life for all citizens.

In Oxfordshire, the Green Party councillors produced an alternative budget that would have protected £7 million investment in the people of Oxfordshire, including rural bus services, all the childrens centres and adult social care, at a cost of 74 p/week increase in council tax. All the Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat county councillors voted against the Green budget and for the cuts.

The Greens are the alternative
Vote Larry Sanders on 20 October

This is a call for candidates to stand for the Green Party at the 2020 elections to councils in Oxfordshire.

We need more Green councillors in Oxfordshire. Could you follow in the footsteps of our Green Party councillors in Oxford, and stand for election? You could improve the quality of our councils by representing the people and views that the governing parties ignore.

Act now

If you are at all interested in standing as a candidate, or helping organise a campaign for a candidate, please complete the form below, and the Elections Committee will get back to you with more details.

If you want any more information on what is involved in standing as candidate, please contact the Elections Co-ordinator, David Newman.