The Wesley Memorial church hall on New Inn Hall street is set to host a rally organised by Oxford Labour in the evening of 31 March. Labour MPs Jeremy Corbyn and Tom Watson will attend, though no details have yet been provided as to the issues addressed within their speeches.
Approximately 230 people have already signed up to join the rally taking place in exactly two weeks. This number is expected to increase rapidly to meet the full capacity of the church. For this reason, event registration is open only to members and registered or affiliated supporters of Labour, each of whom may bring a “Labour-supporting +1″ to the rally.
The current chairs of OULC, David Parton and Eleanor Ormsby, told Cherwell, “we are very excited to see Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn MP and Deputy Leader Tom Watson MP in our fine city, and many of our members will be packing out the event to welcome them.
“We are very grateful to Oxford Labour for organising such an event at the Wesley Memorial Church Hall on March 31st, at 6:30pm, and have no doubt it will be a successful rally, with important and pressing social and economic issues, likely to be raised.”
Daniel Iley-Williamson, Labour city council candidate for Holywell Ward, recalled how “last summer there was an inspiring group of people who tirelessly campaigned to help get Jeremy Corbyn elected as Labour leader, and it’ll be very satisfying to see him here as leader.”
Other Labour supporters among Oxford students have also expressed their enthusiasm regarding the rally.
William Nuttal perceives the event as a chance for Labour and Jeremy Corbyn to show that the public’s expectations are not unfounded. He told Cherwell, “Since Corbyn’s victory in the leadership election I have watched him be mocked and ridiculed, and yet still retain the support of his hardcore supporters.
“I am going to this event to see the ‘man behind the myth’ speak for himself, and to help form my own opinion of his politics rather than one spoon fed to me by the mainstream media, or the vocal left who forever have a presence online.
“Hopefully it will reinvigorate me to action in the political sphere, or it may prove to me that my friends who frequent OUCA are right. I am going as a learning experience, and I expect it to be just that. Either it will restore my previous socialist beliefs, which after months of mockery from other students here have taken a beating, or it will firmly bury them forever.”
