Portal:Oxfordshire
The Oxfordshire Portal
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.
The county is largely rural, with an area of 1,006 sq mi (2,605 km2) and an estimated population of 763,218 in 2024. Oxford, which is famous for its university, is near the centre of the county. Other settlements include Banbury in the north, Bicester in the north-east, Abingdon-on-Thames and Didcot in the south, and Witney in the west. 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 metres/856 ft), part of the Berkshire Downs. (Full article...)
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Oxford (/ˈɒksfərd/ ⓘ) is a cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town.
The city is home to the University of Oxford, the oldest university in the English-speaking world; it has buildings in every style of English architecture since late Anglo-Saxon. Oxford's industries include motor manufacturing, education, publishing, science and information technologies. Founded in the eighth century, it was granted city status in 1542. The city is located at the confluence of the rivers Thames (known locally as the Isis) and Cherwell. It had a population of 166,034 in 2024. It lies 56 miles (90 km) north-west of London, 64 miles (103 km) south-east of Birmingham and 61 miles (98 km) north-east of Bristol. (Full article...)
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David William Donald Cameron, Baron Cameron of Chipping Norton (born 9 October 1966), is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016. Cameron was Leader of the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2016 and Leader of the Opposition from 2005 to 2010. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for Witney from 2001 to 2016. After his premiership he was elevated to the House of Lords as a life peer in November 2023 to serve as Foreign Secretary in the Sunak ministry until July 2024. Cameron identifies as a one-nation conservative and has been associated with both economically and socially liberal policies. He is the most recent British prime minister to have held the office continually for a full parliament.
Born in London to an upper-middle-class family, Cameron was educated at Eton College and Brasenose College, Oxford. After becoming an MP at the 2001 general election, he served in the opposition Shadow Cabinet under the 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 formed by the Conservative Party and the Liberal Democrats.
Cameron's premiership was marked by the effects of the 2008 financial crisis and the Great Recession, which the government sought to address through austerity measures. Parliament passed the Health and Social Care Act and the Welfare Reform Act, which allowed the government to introduce large-scale changes to healthcare and welfare. The government also attempted to enforce stricter immigration policies via the Home Office hostile environment policy, introduced reforms to education, and oversaw the 2012 London Olympics. It privatised Royal Mail and some other state assets, implemented the Equality Act 2010, and legalised same-sex marriage in England and Wales. Internationally, Cameron oversaw Operation Ellamy in the First Libyan Civil War and authorised the bombing of the Islamic State in Syria. Constitutionally, the government oversaw the 2011 United Kingdom Alternative Vote referendum and the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, both of which confirmed Cameron's favoured "no" outcome. When the Conservatives secured an unexpected majority in the 2015 general election, Cameron began leading a Conservative-majority government. He introduced the Brexit referendum on the UK's continuing membership of the European Union in 2016, and supported the Britain Stronger in Europe campaign, which lost. Following the success of Vote Leave, Cameron resigned as prime minister and party leader and was succeeded by Theresa May, his home secretary.
Cameron resigned his seat in the House of Commons in September 2016, and thereafter maintained a low political profile for several years. He was president of Alzheimer's Research UK from 2017 to 2023, and returned to this position in 2025. He was implicated in the Greensill scandal. His memoir, For the Record, was published in 2019. In 2023 he was appointed foreign secretary by Rishi Sunak, that appointment facilitated by his becoming a member of the House of Lords as a life peer. He served as foreign secretary until the Conservatives lost the 2024 general election.
Cameron has been credited for helping to modernise the Conservative Party and for reducing the UK's national deficit. He has also been criticised for austerity measures, his support for foreign intervention in the Libyan and Syrian civil wars, as well as his decision to hold the EU membership referendum, which led to political instability in the UK during the late 2010s. (Full article...)
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Oxford skyline from the University Church of St Mary the Virgin (from Portal:Oxfordshire/Selected pictures)
Oxford skyline from the University Church of St Mary the Virgin (from Portal:Oxfordshire/Selected pictures)
Panoramic view of Blenheim Palace (from Portal:Oxfordshire/Selected pictures)
The Radcliffe Camera in Oxford, as viewed from the tower of the Church of St Mary the Virgin. (from Portal:Oxfordshire/Selected pictures)
Aerial view of Oxford city centre (from Portal:Oxfordshire/Selected pictures)
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Find references for: A420 road | Abingdon, Oxfordshire | Abingdon School | Anthony Kitchin | Banbury | Banbury mutiny | Bicester | Bicester Community College | Blowing Stone | Boris Johnson | Brakspear | Brenda Rawnsley | Chiltern Main Line | Clanfield F.C. | Colin Greenwood | Debagging | Deddington | Degrees of the University of Oxford | Edward the Black Prince | Edward the Confessor | European route E5
Expand: A4260 road | Alvescot | Appleton, Oxfordshire | Appleton-with-Eaton | Ardington | Ardington Wick | Arms of the University of Oxford | Ascott Earl | Ascott d'Oyley | Ashbury, Oxfordshire | Aston Rowant | Aston Upthorpe | Baldon Row | Balscote
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