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The Leader of the Council

Councillor Andy Graham

Councillor Andy Graham is the Leader of the Council. His role is to have overall responsibility for the vision and corporate objectives of the council. He is the principal spokesperson for us and represents our views to the public and other organisations we work with. 

Biography

Andy lives in Churchill and has been a West Oxfordshire resident for the past 8 years where he is both a county councillor and district councillor for his ward of Charlbury and Finstock.

Andy was first elected to the district council in 2015 after moving to West Oxfordshire for the great community spirit of the area and beautiful scenery. This is not his first foray into politics as he has previously been mayor in another town and has also run as the parliamentary candidate for Witney and West Oxfordshire against the then Prime Minister, David Cameron.

His background is as a qualified teacher and youth worker which led to a career in setting up first a theatre company for young people before setting up a charity working to build local communities across the world. He has also worked as a music festival producer, writer and theatre director.

He entered local politics to improve communities and work with people to achieve things for the local area.

Priorities for the Leader

Councillor Graham is responsible for leading the council along with his Executive but his personal ambitions for the role are:

  • Listening to people – giving people a chance to have a say in a real way and take ownership of local issues
  • Working with communities – the council is a resource for the community and we want to work hand in hand to solve local problems and improve our area
  • Openness and transparency – we want the council to be inclusive so people can see what we are doing and be part of what we do

Financial allowances

Councillor Graham gets a basic allowance and a Leader’s special responsibility allowance. Find out more about councillor allowances and their code of conduct