Portal:Oxfordshire

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The Oxfordshire Portal

A panoramic view downstream of the River Thames from Folly Bridge, in Oxford
A panoramic view downstream of the River Thames from Folly Bridge, in Oxford
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Oxfordshire (/ˈɒksfərdʃər, -ʃɪər/ OKS-fərd-shər, -⁠sheer; abbreviated Oxon) is a ceremonial county in South East England. The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Gloucestershire to the west. The city of Oxford is the largest settlement and county town.

The county is largely rural, with an area of 2,605 km2 (1,006 sq mi) and a population of 691,667. After Oxford (162,100), the largest settlements are Banbury (54,355) and Abingdon-on-Thames (37,931). For local government purposes Oxfordshire is a non-metropolitan county with five districts. The part of the county south of the River Thames, largely corresponding to the Vale of White Horse district, was historically part of Berkshire.

The lowlands in the centre of the county are crossed by the River Thames and its tributaries, the valleys of which are separated by low hills. The south contains parts of the Berkshire Downs and Chiltern Hills, and the north-west includes part of the Cotswolds; all three regions are Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The county's highest point is White Horse Hill (261-metre (856 ft)), part of the Berkshire Downs. (Full article...)

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Selected article

Jesus College, Oxford first quad

Jesus College (in full: Jesus College in the University of Oxford of Queen Elizabeth's Foundation) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is in the centre of the city, on a site between Turl Street, Ship Street, Cornmarket Street and Market Street. The college was founded by Queen Elizabeth I of England on 27 June 1571. A major driving force behind the establishment of the college was Hugh Price (or Ap Rhys), a churchman from Brecon in Wales. The oldest buildings, in the first quadrangle, date from the 16th and early 17th centuries; a second quadrangle was added between about 1640 and about 1713, and a third quadrangle was built in about 1906. Further accommodation was built on the main site to mark the 400th anniversary of the college, in 1971, and student flats have been constructed at sites in north and east Oxford. A fourth quadrangle was completed in 2021.

There are about 475 students at any one time; the Principal of the college is Sir Nigel Shadbolt. Former students include Harold Wilson (who was twice Prime Minister of the United Kingdom), Kevin Rudd (Prime Minister of Australia), Norman Washington Manley (Prime Minister of Jamaica), T. E. Lawrence ("Lawrence of Arabia"), Angus Buchanan (winner of the Victoria Cross), Viscount Sankey (Lord Chancellor), Edwin Yoder (Pulitzer Prize winning journalist), Roger Parry (media and technology entrepreneur) and over 30 Members of Parliament. Past or present fellows of the college include the historians Sir Goronwy Edwards, Yuval Noah Harari and Niall Ferguson, the philosopher Galen Strawson, and the political philosopher John Gray. Past students and fellows in the sciences include John Houghton (physicist) and Nobel Laureate Peter J. Ratcliffe. (Full article...)

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Selected biography

Official portrait, 2023

David William Donald Cameron, Baron Cameron of Chipping Norton, PC (born 9 October 1966) is a British politician who has served as Foreign Secretary since 2023. He previously served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016, as Leader of the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2016, and as Leader of the Opposition from 2005 to 2010, while serving as Member of Parliament (MP) for Witney from 2001 to 2016. He identifies as a one-nation conservative and has been associated with both economically liberal and socially liberal policies.

Born in London to an upper-middle-class family, Cameron was educated at Eton College and Brasenose College, Oxford. Becoming an MP in 2001, he served in the opposition Shadow Cabinet under Conservative leader Michael Howard, and succeeded Howard in 2005. Following the 2010 general election, negotiations led to Cameron becoming prime minister as the head of a coalition government with the Liberal Democrats. His premiership was marked by the ongoing effects of the global financial crisis, which his government sought to address through austerity measures. His administration passed the Health and Social Care Act and the Welfare Reform Act, which introduced large-scale changes to healthcare and welfare. It also enforced stricter immigration policies, introduced reforms to education and oversaw the 2012 London Olympics. Cameron's administration also privatised Royal Mail and some other state assets, and legalised same-sex marriage in England and Wales. Internationally, Cameron's government intervened militarily in the First Libyan Civil War and authorised the bombing of the Islamic State. Domestically, his government oversaw the referendum on voting reform and Scottish independence referendum, both of which confirmed Cameron's favoured outcome.

When the Conservatives secured an unexpected majority in the 2015 general election, he remained as prime minister, this time leading a Conservative-only government. To fulfil a manifesto pledge, Cameron introduced a referendum on the UK's continuing membership of the European Union in 2016. He supported the Britain Stronger in Europe campaign. Following the success of the Leave vote, Cameron resigned as prime minister and was succeeded in the 2016 Conservative Party leadership election by Theresa May. Post his premiership, Cameron gave up his seat and served as the president of Alzheimer's Research UK from 2017 to 2023. During the November 2023 cabinet reshuffle, Conservative prime minister Rishi Sunak appointed Cameron foreign secretary and recommended him for a life peerage. Cameron is the first former prime minister to be appointed to a ministerial post since Alec Douglas-Home in 1970.

Cameron has been credited for helping to modernise the Conservative Party and for reducing the United Kingdom's inherited national deficit as prime minister. However, he was subject to a level of criticism for the 2015 manifesto commitment to implement the referendum on the UK's continued membership of the EU and his vocal support for remain, which ultimately led to his resignation as prime minister. This led to a sustained period of political instability. After leaving office, Cameron was implicated in the Greensill scandal. In historical rankings of prime ministers of the United Kingdom, academics and journalists have ranked him in the fourth and third quintiles, respectively. (Full article...)

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