Vale of White Horse District Council


The Vale of White Horse District Council is the elected local government for the Vale of White Horse, a district in the south of Oxfordshire, England, that was created on 1 April 1974.

Overview

At the first elections in 1973 forty-nine district councillors were elected from thirty-one electoral wards. Currently thirty-eight councillors are elected from twenty four electoral wards, which cover the principle towns of Abingdon, Faringdon and Wantage and surrounding villages. This was effective from the 2015 elections.
Between 2007 and 2019 the council was run by the Conservative Party with a healthy majority. The Liberal Democrats took control from May 2019.
The council has been based in temporary office accommodation at Milton Park near Didcot since mid-2015, after a fire destroyed the previous headquarters building in Crowmarsh Gifford. The Crowmarsh Gifford headquarters is actually in the neighbouring district of South Oxfordshire and was owned by South Oxfordshire District Council. The Vale of White Horse District Council's committees meet at The Beacon in Wantage.

Elections

Elections of the full council take place every four years.
At the May 2019 local elections, the Liberal Democrats overcame the Tories' 20-seat majority to become the major party with a 24-seat majority.