Photo: Vieve Forward · CC BY-SA 2.0No party holds a majority on West Oxfordshire District Council
Finstock is run by West Oxfordshire District Council and Oxfordshire County Council, with Finstock parish council for local matters. No party holds a majority on West Oxfordshire District Council. The Liberal Democrats have a majority on Oxfordshire County Council. Its MP is Sean Woodcock (Labour), member for Banbury.
£2,529
Band D, a year, the middle band every council sets its tax from.
Where it goes →How Finstock’s politics has changed since 2021
No majority on West Oxfordshire District Council
The Liberal Democrats, the largest group, hold 21 of its 49 seats as elected, 4 short of the 25 needed (it held 22 before the May 2026 election). The Conservatives hold 16, Labour 7, the Greens 4 and Reform UK 1. Who’s in charge ↓
Oxfordshire in 2025
Oxfordshire County Council, which runs schools, social care and roads, has a Liberal Democrat majority at the May 2025 election: the Liberal Democrats won 36 of 69 seats. Oxfordshire ↓
The 2024 vote
Across Finstock’s wards, the Liberal Democrats took 58.9%, the Conservatives took 20.3% and Labour took 11.5% of votes in May 2024. In 2023, the Liberal Democrats had 59%. How Finstock has voted ↓
Council tax
A Band D bill in Finstock is £2,529 for 2026–27; West Oxfordshire District Council keeps 5% of it. The council area’s Band D has risen 59% in ten years, against England’s 56%. Council money ↓
Written from the data on this page: Democracy Club results since May 2021, the UK Parliament Members API and MHCLG council tax.
Who holds the seats on Finstock’s councils
Seats by party as elected. A party needs 25 of West Oxfordshire’s 49 or 35 of Oxfordshire’s 69 seats to run the council alone.
- Liberal Democrat21−1
- Conservative16+3
- Labour7−3
- Green4no change
- Reform UK1+1
Change against the council before the 7 May 2026 election.
- Liberal Democrat36
- Labour12
- Conservative10
- Green7
- Independent2
- Henley Residents Group1
- Reform UK1
Latest election: May 2025.
Seats are counted from election results: each ward’s most recent winners until its seats are filled. Councillors who have since changed party or resigned aren’t reflected, and which parties lead the council, and who is leader, comes from the council itself.
Results: Democracy Club (CC BY 4.0), elections since May 2021; seats per ward from its EveryElection.
Two tiers of council, and a parish tier
Finstock has two tiers of council: the county runs the big services, the district the local ones.
Local matters: allotments, play areas, halls, footpaths and benches; it is consulted on planning and adds a precept to the council tax bill. A town council is a parish council by another name.
100% of Finstock’s residents · Band D precept £90
Bins and recycling, planning, housing, environmental health, leisure, and collecting council tax.
Website ↗Schools, social care, roads and transport, libraries and waste disposal.
Website ↗Who to ask
From GOV.UK’s “Understand how your council works”: in two-tier areas the district or borough runs local services and the county the big ones.
Councils from ONS lookups (wards and councils May 2026, parishes 2025), names and websites from GOV.UK’s local council finder; parish councils from MHCLG’s 2026–27 list of precepting parishes.
From the parish to Westminster
Every elected tier that speaks for Finstock, from the most recent elections.
- 1Town or parishParish tierFinstock parish council
- 2West Oxfordshire District Council1 ward · 2 councillorsLiz LeffmanAndy Graham
- 3Oxfordshire County Council1 division · 1 councillorLiz Leffman
- 4Police and crime commissionerThames Valley Police · elected May 2024Matthew Barber
- 5House of CommonsBanbury
Party colours are neutral on purpose: they tell parties apart and aren’t the parties’ own. Tap an MP’s name for their contact page on parliament.uk.
2 councillors for 1 ward
Wards with at least 2% of the town’s residents, or half their own inside it. Each shows who won its most recent elections, newest first, until its seats are filled.
- Liz LeffmanLiberal Democrat · May 2024
- Andy GrahamLiberal Democrat · May 2023
Show as a table, with Oxfordshire County Council’s 1 division (1 councillor)
| Ward | Seats | Elected | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| Charlbury and Finstock20% in Finstock · 758 residents2 seats · May 2024, May 2023 | 2 | Liz LeffmanAndy Graham | May 2024, May 2023 |
Oxfordshire County Council: county divisions
| Division | Seats | Elected | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| Charlbury & Wychwood ED7% in Finstock · 758 residents1 seat · May 2025 | 1 | Liz Leffman | May 2025 |
Councillors can resign, change party or sit as independents between elections; a by-election winner replaces someone not named here. West Oxfordshire District Council’s website lists who sits now.
Results from Democracy Club’s candidates database (CC BY 4.0; elections since May 2021) and ward seats from its EveryElection, matched to ONS wards (May 2026) and county divisions (May 2025).
The Liberal Democrats have led every council vote since 2021
Share of all votes cast for candidates in Finstock’s wards at each scheduled council election since 2021. A gap is a year with no election here.
Seats won at each election
Show as a table
| Party | 2021 | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Green | 12.7% | 9.9% | 9.3% |
| Labour | 7.5% | 7.6% | 11.5% |
| Liberal Democrat | 54.6% | 59% | 58.9% |
| Conservative | 25.2% | 23.6% | 20.3% |
In 2024, the Liberal Democrats won 1 of the 1 seats up in Finstock’s wards.
Results: Democracy Club (CC BY 4.0). Where a ward elects several councillors at once, each voter has that many votes; all of them count here.
West Oxfordshire council election, May 2024
Results in the wards that make up Finstock, as declared. Percentages are of votes cast for candidates in each ward; where a ward elects several councillors, each voter has that many votes.
1 ward voted. Not every seat in the town’s wards was up this time.
No election is scheduled yet for Finstock’s wards in Democracy Club’s list. Councils publish a notice of election about five weeks before polling day.
Who can I vote for? ↗1,332 votes for candidates
Candidates and results: Democracy Club (CC BY 4.0), from councils’ declared results; polling dates from Democracy Club’s EveryElection.
Finstock is in Banbury constituency
The constituency’s MP and the 4 July 2024 general election, the whole constituency’s result (it reaches beyond Finstock).
48,178 votes for candidates · majority 3,256
Labour, MP since 4 July 2024.
turnout in July 2024: 48,178 votes from 73,250 registered voters. England: 60%.
Majority 3,256 of 48,178 votes (6.8%): the 126th-narrowest of 543 in England.
MPs and results: UK Parliament Members API (Open Parliament Licence v3.0); constituencies from ONS (2024 boundaries). Percentages are of valid votes; turnout is votes cast over the electorate.
Finstock’s Band D council tax is £2,529 a year
Where a Band D bill goes, what it has cost over the years, and what the councils plan to spend per resident.
West Oxfordshire District Council keeps £134.38 of a Band D bill (5%); the rest goes to the Finstock parish council, Oxfordshire County Council and the Thames Valley police and crime commissioner.
Band D since 1993
West Oxfordshire’s Band D bill has risen 59% in ten years, from £1,613.35 in 2016–17, against England’s average (56%). It was £491.63 in 1993–94.
Your bill by band
A Band D home in Finstock, 2026–27, before discounts. The Valuation Office Agency’s band search gives any home’s band.
Oxfordshire’s councils
Average Band D in each council area, 2026–27, parish precepts included. Bars start at £2,400.
Council budgets per resident, 2026–27
Show as a table, with Oxfordshire
| West Oxfordshire + Oxfordshire | Finstock’s councils | Oxfordshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adult social care | £418 | £418 | £487 |
| Children’s social care | £259 | £259 | £290 |
| Roads and transport | £66 | £60 | £41 |
| Housing (not council homes’ rents) | £36 | £41 | £61 |
| Bins, street cleaning, environment | £139 | £132 | £119 |
| Libraries, leisure, culture | £13 | £41 | £44 |
| Planning and development | £27 | £35 | £26 |
| Public health | £55 | £55 | £78 |
| Running the council | £52 | £65 | £59 |
| Other | £0 | £13 | £19 |
| Total, schools apart | £1,107 | £1,162 | £1,234 |
Net budgeted service spending, MHCLG Revenue Account budget 2026–27, per resident (ONS mid-2025 estimates). Both tiers added: West Oxfordshire per its residents plus Oxfordshire per the county’s. Schools are left out: academies are paid for directly by government, so council school budgets depend on how many schools have converted. Oxfordshire and England: all their councils together. Police, fire and transport authorities aren’t included.
Band D: MHCLG Band D council tax 2026–27 (each authority’s own figure, excluding parish precepts) and Council Tax statistics for town and parish councils 2026–27; since 1993–94, MHCLG’s area averages including parishes.
Having a say in how Finstock is run
It takes about five minutes online; the deadline is 12 working days before a poll.
gov.uk ↗Type a postcode to write to each of its councillors and its MP.
WriteToThem ↗GOV.UK sends the report to the council that looks after the road.
gov.uk ↗Council and committee meetings are open to the public, with agendas and minutes online.
westoxon.gov.uk ↗Anyone can comment while an application is open for consultation.
westoxon.gov.uk ↗The rules, nomination papers and guidance for council candidates.
Electoral Commission ↗Questions about how Finstock is run
Which council runs Finstock?
Finstock is run by West Oxfordshire District Council and Oxfordshire County Council. The county council runs schools, social care and roads; the district runs bins, planning and housing.
Does Finstock have a town council?
Yes: Finstock has its own parish-tier council (Finstock parish council; town councils are parish councils by another name), which adds £90 to a Band D bill in 2026–27.
Who is the MP for Finstock?
Sean Woodcock (Labour) is the MP for Banbury, which covers Finstock.
How many councillors does Finstock have?
2 ward councillors represent Finstock’s 1 ward, and 1 county councillors its county divisions.
When are the next elections in Finstock?
No election is scheduled yet in Democracy Club’s list for Finstock’s wards. The next UK general election must be held by August 2029.
How much is council tax in Finstock?
Band D council tax in Finstock is £2,529 for 2026–27. Your bill depends on your home’s band, from A (6/9 of Band D) to H (18/9).
Who controls West Oxfordshire District Council?
No party has a majority. As elected, Liberal Democrat 21 · Conservative 16 · Labour 7 · Green 4 · Reform UK 1 of 49 seats; a majority needs 25. The council’s website lists who leads it now.
Who controls Oxfordshire County Council?
The Liberal Democrats have a majority: 36 of 69 seats as elected.
Who won the 2024 council election in Finstock?
In Finstock’s wards on 2 May 2024, Liberal Democrat 1 of the 1 seats up. The Liberal Democrats had the largest share of votes, 58.9%.
Sources: ONS ward, county division, parish, constituency lookups (Census 2021 output areas; Open Government Licence v3.0) · GOV.UK local council finder · Democracy Club candidates (CC BY 4.0) and EveryElection · UK Parliament Members API (Open Parliament Licence v3.0) · MHCLG Band D council tax, parish precepts and Revenue Account budgets 2026–27 (OGL v3.0) · ONS mid-2025 population estimates. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.