Greens came 2nd in Oxford in 2012, Green votes count in 2013

Don't be fooled by misleading leaflets that ignore and despise Green voters. In the 2012 Oxford City Council elections, the total votes cast were as shown on the right.

So the Green Party are the second place challengers across the City. We try harder. Green votes count.

What does that mean for the County Council elections on 2nd May? It means that in many parts of the City (which is divided into 14 County Divisions) the Greens can win. We won County seats at the last elections and can do so again.

So look beyond the deceptive graphs and confusing claims that suggest the Greens don't stand a chance. 

It is possible to take the votes cast last year, distribute them into the new county divisions, in proportion to the number of voters, and come up with this chart of how last year's Green votes would look in this year's boundaries.

If people vote the same way as they did last year:

• Greens will come first in 2 and second in 6 out of 14 divisions.
  (Churchill & Lye Valley, Cowley, Iffley Fields & St. Mary's, Isis, Jericho & Osney, St. Clement's & Cowley Marsh, St. Margaret's, and University Parks)

Add in a swing of only 5% to the Green Party, then:

• We could win 4 divisions.
  

If there is a swing of 15% to the Green Party:

• There will be Green councillors in 9 of the 14 divisions.
  (Cowley, Iffley Fields & St. Mary's, Isis, Jericho & Osney, Marston & Northway, St. Clement's & Cowley Marsh, St. Margaret's, University Parks, and Wolvercote & Summertown)
  

So if you don't like the way things are run now, you should vote Green for a real, practical, change.

Note on calculation

Take for example the new Wolvercote and Summertown division. It is made up of 100% of the voters in the Wolvercote city ward plus 67% of the Summertown ward voters. So add the 495 Green votes in Wolvercote to 67% of the 418 Green votes in Summertown to get 776 votes in the new Wolvercote and Summertown division. Do the same for the total votes cast to get 3141, then calculate the percentage vote share.

Of course, this is not how people will vote on Thursday. The candidates are different, the council is different, the issues are different, and we have had another year of economic and environmental failure from a Coalition government sticking to policies introduced by New Labour. The calculation just gives a starting point from which swings can be calculated. The graph presents those values.