About Steve Goddard

Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Spokesman for Oxford East

Steve Goddard came to Oxford in 1987 as a student and has lived here for almost twenty years. He joined the Liberal Democrats in 1990 and has been a committed activist ever since, playing an active part in every General Election and every set of local elections, as well as numerous by-elections. He currently works as a lecturer in French in several colleges in Oxford.

Steve joined the Lib Dems because he found that he agreed with their views on the environment, education, voting reform and Europe. He served as an Oxford City Councillor for Wolvercote ward from 1996-2002, having defeated the Tory leader on the City Council to win his seat.

Steve fought Oxford East for the Liberal Democrats in 2001 and 2005: in 2001, he took the party into second place behind Labour, with an 8% swing to the Lib Dems, and in 2005, he came within less than 1,000 votes of unseating Oxford East's Labour MP, obtaining a swing of 12%, one of the biggest in the country. Among the issues Steve has campaigned on since his selection:

The abolition of student tuition and top-up fees

Stopping the Iraq war

Environmental action to fight climate change

Fighting NHS cuts

Fighting Labour's Academies at Peers and the Oxford School

Preservation of local services such as post offices across the constituency

Abolition of ID cards

Fair funding for Rose Hill's Sure Start family centre

The abolition of the unfair Council Tax

More affordable housing and more powers to tackle dodgy landlords

Steve is an active member of the Green Liberal Democrats and a number of environmental pressure groups, including WWF and the RSPB. He is supporting 'Reflecting Britain', a Lib Dem pressure group aimed at improving representation of women and ethnic communities. Steve lives in Oxford with his wife Julia and their children Laura and Alexander, who were both born in the JR

Steve says, "Since I was first selected to fight Oxford East for the Lib Dems, our membership has almost trebled to become one of the biggest local Lib Dem parties in the UK. We have gone from a distant third place to being on the verge of toppling Labour in what used to be a safe seat for them; and we have established an excellent group of dedicated activists.

"This election will offer us our biggest ever opportunity in Oxford East, and will need our biggest ever effort. I am convinced that if we put the work in, we will win. I pledge to represent the interests people of Oxford East in parliament, rather than the interests of the government ".