2013 Oxfordshire County Council election

An election to Oxfordshire County Council took place on 2 May 2013 as part of the 2013 United Kingdom local elections. 63 councillors were elected from 61 electoral divisions, which returned either one or two county councillors each by first-past-the-post voting for a four-year term of office. Following a boundary review, the electoral divisions were not the same as those used at the previous election in 2009. The election saw the Conservative Party lose overall control of the council as the party found itself one seat short of an overall majority.

All locally registered electors (British, Irish, Commonwealth and European Union citizens) who were aged 18 or over on Thursday 2 May 2013 were entitled to vote in the local elections. Those who were temporarily away from their ordinary address (for example, away working, on holiday, in student accommodation or in hospital) were also entitled to vote in the local elections, although those who had moved abroad and registered as overseas electors cannot vote in the local elections. It is possible to register to vote at more than one address (such as a university student who had a term-time address and lives at home during holidays) at the discretion of the local Electoral Register Office, but it remains an offence to vote more than once in the same local government election.

Ward boundary review
In 2012 the Local Government Boundary Commission for England recommended a number of ward boundary changes, creating a number of new wards and combining others, to improve the electoral equality across the county. As a result, the number of wards increased from 58 to 61, while the number of councillors reduced from 74 to 63. All except two of the wards would now be single member divisions.

Aftermath
The Conservatives lost the overall majority that they had held on the council for eight years. They were however able to continue to govern in a minority administration with the support of three of the four independent councillors – Lynda Atkins, Mark Gray and Les Sibley.

The support of these three independent councillors gave the Conservatives an overall majority of 34 out of 63 seats.