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“If you’d told me a year ago I would never have believed it”

Katie Sayer
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“If you’d told me a year ago I would never have believed it”

When Penelope Green published an article in the New York Times in 2015 about a gay couple founding a spiritualist commune in rural Pennsylvania, she probably had no idea that her article would go on to inspire Callum Cameron, an upcoming playwright and intern at NYT, to produce one of the most hotly-tipped new plays of the Edinburgh Fringe based on her research. Happily for audiences across the UK, it did, and They Built It, No One Came has enjoyed a sell-out run in London and is now coming to Oxford.

“If you’d told me a year ago I would never have believed it” says Callum Cameron, the writer and star of They Built It, No One Came, in reference to the success of a play that was originally intended purely for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Speaking to Cherwell in anticipation of an upcoming performance at The Old Firestation, Cameron says he is both “surprised and excited” by the prospect of taking his show on a tour that has extended from Scotland to Brighton.

Produced by Fledgling Theatre, a production company founded by Cameron and some friends from drama school, They Built It, No One Came tells the story of Tobias and Alexander, a couple who found a commune in the remote countryside based on their vision of a peaceful and cooperative community. There is only one problem – eight years later, not a single member has joined. With live music throughout, the play has been praised for its blend of comedy and tragedy in relating the tale of the two men, which Cameron describes as “surrealist and absurd”. How would he describe the play in one word? “Darkly comic. Wait, that’s two”. But darkly comic seems apt for a play that The Edinburgh Reporter has described as “a spectacle of mirth-shattering surreal brilliance”.

How does it feel to both write and act in your own production? “Doubly exposing”, Cameron says. “But I’ve also enjoyed the collaborative process.” Most of the play has been workshopped by the company, from character development to more logistical aspects of the production that have been the result of collaboration, and the outcome is a very minimal set, designed to represent a “timeless space”, with a cast of only four. The clear parallels between the bare set and the “location-less rural space” inhabited by Tobias and Alexander are almost metatheatrical.

Is there any advice Cameron would give to budding theatre makers at Oxford? As someone who had never properly acted before university, but went on to go to drama school after his degree, his career trajectory has certainly been an interesting one. “Start making stuff” Cameron says, “and if you can, take it to Edinburgh”. He also recommends checking out other pieces of new writing and attending as much theatre as possible, “just see what works, see what you enjoy”. Perhaps They Built It, No One Came could be the perfect starting point.

They Built It, No One Came is playing at The Old Fire Station on May 9th at 7.30pm. Tickets can be found here.

Don slams fivers’ grammar

Jordan Bernstein
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Don slams fivers’ grammar

An Oxford academic has this week hit out at the new five pound note for “dumbing down” the English language. It was recently reported that the note, which features celebrated Prime Minister Winston Churchill, uses incorrect grammar and syntax for a famous quote.

“I have nothing to give but blood, sweat, toil and tears” is not placed in quotation marks on the note. According to Oxford academic Dr Tara Stubbs, “it is a bit peculiar because it looks like it is the five pounds that’s speaking and not Winston Churchill.”

Stubbs also had strong words for the grammar to be found within the quotation, saying: “It also doesn’t have the Oxford comma after ‘tears’. To take that stuff out is condescending and I find efforts to dumb down like this just irritating.”

The National Literary Trust also weighed in on the controversy, with the scathing statement that “If you are referencing a quotation word-for-word, use double quotation marks at the start and end of the quoted section. Place full stops and commas inside the quotation marks for a complete quoted sentence.”

This is not the first time since their circulation began in October that the new five pound notes have incurred outrage. Shortly after their first release, it emerged that small quantities of animal fat, or tallow, were used to make them. At the time, the Bank of England said “The Bank was not aware of the presence of animal-derived products when it signed the contract with its supplier for the five pound and ten pound banknote polymer.” However, after alerting the public, the Bank chose to continue as planned with the notes’ production, much to the anger of vegan and vegetarian groups.

Responding to Dr Stubbs’ comments, the chair of the Royal Society of Literature, said that Churchill “as an orator” would probably not have regarded such syntactical or grammatical discrepancies as important.

The late Sir Winston’s thoughts on the commercial use of animal fat are unknown.

Oxbridge tops university donations list

Theo Davies-Lewis
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Oxbridge tops university donations list

Oxford and Cambridge received the highest number of donations to universities last year, it has been revealed.

New data shows the two top universities received 46 per cent of new funds donated to UK universities in 2016.

The Ross-Case survey of higher education, carried out by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (Case) Europe, also revealed that Oxford and Cambridge accounted for 34 per cent of donors to higher education institutions in the country.

According to the survey, philanthropic donations to UK universities have also exceeded £1 billion a year for the first time—with the new funds received by universities increasing by 23 per cent from 2015-16.

This latest development suggests that philanthropy has an important role in the funding of UK institutions, with Tricia King, Vice President of Case, telling The Guardian: “Philanthropic giving is now at the heart of UK university culture.

“It provides vital funds to enable the nation’s universities to invest in new ground breaking research that pushes back the boundaries of knowledge, improves social mobility by widening access to degree study, and builds world class facilities.”

Dame Julia Goodfellow, President of Universities UK, added: “This extra money is making a real difference, helping to fund ground-breaking research, improving facilities and supporting thousands of students through university.”

However, it is perhaps not surprising that Oxford received the highest amount of donations in the UK.

In 2008, the University launched ‘Oxford Thinking: The Campaign for the University of Oxford’, with the goal of raising £1.2 billion “to transform the collegiate University for many generations to come”.

The University met the target in 2012 and a new goal of £3 billion was set, with £2 billion reached in May 2015.

It comes as the University raises increasing funds from alumni donors. There have been several high-profile gifts from alumni to the University, including the £4 million from Adrian Beecroft to construct the Beecroft Building in the Department of Physics, and the £10 million donated to support the University’s Weidenfeld and Hoff mann Scholarship Programme.

Other notable donations from alumni include Dickson Poon, a Hong Kong businessman in the luxury goods retailing sector, who donated £10 million to St. Hugh’s College to build the Dickson Poon University of Oxford China Centre Building. Many alumni gifts to scholarship funds have been matched by the University.

However, some of the donations that have been accepted by the University have been heavily criticised. The £75 million donated by Len Blavatnik to build the Blavatnik school of government, was described as a “highly controversial deal” in a letter to the Guardian due to Blavatnik’s role in a dispute with BP executives, which led to dozens of British and western managers being “forced out of Russia”.

The signatories of the letter, which included Oxford graduates and academics, argued that the University had failed to investigate whether Blavatnik and other “oligarchs” had a role in what they viewed as a state-sponsored campaign of harassment against BP in Russia, consequently urging the University to “stop selling its reputation and prestige to Putin’s associates”.

Responding to the latest donation figures, an Oxford University spokesperson told Cherwell: “The generous support from benefactors, alongside the considerable funding that is secured annually through competitive research grants, is crucial to the continued development of the University and its research and teaching facilities, and maintaining our position as a leading centre of learning and research.

“All funding is recorded and properly declared, and neither donors nor funding bodies gain influence through their contributions.”

Across the UK, funds secured from alumni (£322m) was far more significant from those from non-alumni individuals (£149m).

However, the donations received by UK institutions such as Oxford and Cambridge are still dwarfed by the funding of their US counterparts, with $40.3bn of donations (£31.1bn) received by US universities in 2015.

Despite the government encouraging universities to diversify how they raise funds over recent years, Sally Hunt, General Secretary of the University and College Union, argued that more needs to be done to mean public investment, not private donations, is a priority for UK universities’ funding: “Higher education is worth paying for, and UCU remains committed to campaigning for greater public investment rather than asking others to make up shortfalls.

“As we try to deal with the Brexit fallout, the sector needs stability at the moment and that comes via secure funding, not variable streams.”

“The universities benefitting from the larger donations are the wealthier ones, so the system entrenches inequality.”

Donations to UK universities have been used in a variety of ways.

These include dementia research at the University of Edinburgh, new scholarships to enable Londoners to study at the University of London, as well as to ensure students from Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda could complete master’s degree at the University of Manchester.

St Anne’s vote for mandatory donation to homelessness charities

Marianna Spring
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St Anne’s vote for mandatory donation to homelessness charities

St Anne’s JCR has passed a motion to include a compulsory £1 battels donation for Oxford homelessness charities each term, as well as resolving to purchase a painting by a homeless artist for college.

The levy, which the JCR hopes will be introduced at other colleges, will go towards supporting charities such as Oxford Homelessness Pathways, Gatehouse and TSK Action.

The motion, which states that little contributions “would amass funds capable of a huge impact and would send a powerful statement of support for Oxford’s rough sleepers”, passed with 26 votes in favour, twelve against and two abstentions.

The motion was proposed in light of a recent Oxford student poll, which suggested that 98.5 per cent of Oxford students think homelessness is a problem in Oxford.

It noted: “In the coming years, this situation is expected to deteriorate. Cuts in funding by Oxford City Council will result in the closing of Julian Housing, which has around 150 beds and Simon House, with 52.

“Encountering rough sleepers is a sad reality we witness everyday and something that can only be effectively solved through organised action.”

The motion referenced the Iffley Open House and On Your Doorstep homelessness Campaigns, which it used as examples that “student action remains a powerful and positive channel for real change”.

Thomas Zagoria, the JCR’s OUSU rep, told Cherwell: “In the light of the homelessness crisis in Oxford, it was very important to respond, and I’m delighted that St Anne’s students were willing to contribute a small amount to ease the pressure on homelessness charities.”

A second motion to purchase a painting specially made for St Anne’s JCR by Henry the Bus Stop Artist was passed unanimously.

Henry is a homeless artist who is “known to many students and some members of the college staff”, according to the motion.

The JCR will mount the artwork on the wall in the Danson Room, along with a mount, which explains the painting’s background in a bid to raise awareness of Oxford’s homelessness problem and to demonstrate St. Anne’s support.

The JCR amended the original motion, promising to spend £40 on the painting and to request to have it signed.

The motion, proposed by Archie Foster, said: “Supporting the homeless of Oxford is an important endeavour.

“A direct action in relation to this endeavour, in conjunction with the College’s ongoing charitable eff orts, could be a symbol of the College’s stance on homelessness. In the spirit of the college, it would be honourable to purchase the painting.”

Corpus JCR rejects fines

Mia Liyanage
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Corpus JCR rejects fines

Corpus Christi JCR has passed a motion to begin discussions with their Dean regarding the use of fines as a form of punishment for disciplinary offences.

The motion, unanimously passed on Sunday, mandates that JCR officers must now create a survey of alternative punishments which could be introduced alongside the existing minimum £50 fine incurred by students for bad behaviour.

Zereena Arshad, the JCR’s Access and Admissions Officer, who proposed the motion, told Cherwell: “The point of the motion was to show College that we would like to raise concerns with the way fines are issued as a form of punishment—as for some students, especially working class students, it is not financially viable to pay a fi ne for drunken mistakes or occasional errors in judgement.

“However, we completely understand that sometimes fines are unavoidable because of a waste of resources, for example, when the fi re brigade is called out.”

Jack Beadsworth, Corpus’ Socioeconomic Liberation Officer who seconded the motion, said: “The introduction of ‘community service’ alongside the usual fines is an important reform in student discipline.

“In many cases, fines will be completely inappropriate, and the punishment will not accurately reflect the misdemeanour. Fines, which can be upwards of £50, may also create further injustice if imposed on poorer, low income students for whom £50 is a lot of money—they will affect their ability to get through the term in a stable financial position.

Mr. Beadsworth added: “Where there has been a more minor misdemeanour, a punishment of community service, e.g. cleaning up after a bop, will not only be appropriate in terms of accurately reflecting the offence, but will also be much fairer on low income students.”

The motion follows a wider debate about financial penalties at Oxford colleges.

A 2017 Cherwell investigation found that fining is common at many colleges.

Some fining their student bodies upwards of £10,000 in the academic years 2011-14.

Of over 200 respondents, 31 percent had been fined at some point during their degree.

Despite the popularity of the motion within the College, not all Oxford students feel that such a shift away from financial penalties is necessary.

One student, who wished to remain anonymous, commented: “This is just yet another example of people dodging their responsibilities. If you can’t pay the fi ne, don’t do the crime!”

Another student added: “Restricting fines only to those who can afford it defeats the idea of a punishment—a punishment should be inconvenient to the perpetrator, to deter reoffending.

“At best, a punishment should also be of benefit to the community—community service satisfies both.”

Corpus JCR are expected to meet to discuss alternatives to fines this week.

The Dean of Corpus Christi has been contacted for comment.

ACS photo campaign to “debunk myths” on race

Jack Hunter
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ACS photo campaign to “debunk myths” on race

“We want to elevate the voices of black students at Oxford.”

This is the message behind a picture of thirteen black male Oxford students which has gained over one thousand likes on Facebook.

Inspired by a similar initiative at Cambridge, which went viral on social media earlier this week, members of the African and Caribbean Society (ACS) posed in a series of images outside the Rad Cam in an attempt to encourage younger black students to apply to the University.

The President of ACS, Renee Kapuku, told Cherwell: “We were inspired by our friends at Cambridge ACS who did an excellent job, setting out to debunk myths about black students at top institutions.

“The main aim of our campaign is to celebrate the achievements of black students at Oxford, and to highlight that the subject of black student admissions is far more than just admissions statistics.

She went on: “The theme is ‘rise’— we want to elevate the voices of black students at Oxford and prospective black students. Although the University has substantial access and Outreach programmes—indeed, they support a lot of our own student-led initiatives – we want to add more factors into the conversation.”

Black students made up just 45 offers of the 2,555 made by Oxford for 2016 entry.

In January, the Labour MP David Lammy accused Oxford of “unconscious bias” in its admissions process. But the campaigners hope the initiative will challenge perceptions that Oxford is an unwelcoming space for black students.

The group organise shadowing days, vision workshops and an annual conference.

Kapuku explains: “To us, we want to have real and relatable role models for younger black students, similarly to Cambridge. The common misconception is that Oxford isn’t a space accommodating to black students. The University’s Director of Undergraduate Admissions, Dr Samina Khan, has said previously that the University is “aware that there is still work to be done [admitting minority ethnic students], particularly in terms of offer rates to Black and Asian students.”

“Of course there are various issues that we face—we must be realistic in our depiction. But it is still a space that black students can make room for themselves, and do well.”

She highlighted outreach programmes targeted at students from underrepresented groups, to “help make Oxford an even more diverse community.”

The photos from Cambridge’s ACS were brought even greater attention this week after being retweeted by the grime artist Stormzy.

Members of Oxford ACS in front of the Bodleian Old Library

Regents Park student Theophina Gabriel told Cherwell she took part in the photoshoot in the hope of “encouraging and empowering aspiring black students who have the potential to apply to Oxbridge but struggle to see themselves in these spaces. We were you and we are here.”

Pembroke student Hope Aloye, who also took part in the photoshoot, told Cherwell: “To me it’s about showcasing the presence of Black students in such an old academic institution, celebrating our contribution to the university, and showing prospecting Black students that Oxford University is the place for them.

“We deserve to take up space and will continue to do so.”

Labour win University Parks County Council seat – full results

Jack Hunter
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Labour win University Parks County Council seat – full results

Emma Turnbull has been elected as Labour councillor for the University Parks seat in yesterday’s Oxfordshire County Council elections.

Turnbull defeated Liberal Democrat candidate Lucinda Chamberlain, a Brasenose student, by 691 votes to 400. The division includes the majority of Oxford colleges and had been held by Sam Coates of the Green Party.

The University Parks campaign had been marked by controversy, after Lib Dem campaigners accused Turnbull of “lies and slander” about Chamberlain in a campaign leaflet.

Results for the 63 seats of Oxfordshire County Council – which runs 90 per cent of local authority funding – have been announced throughout the day.

The big winners were the Liberal Democrats, who won around 25 per cent of the vote and increased their number of seats from 11 to 13. The Conservatives won 31 seats, failing to achieve an overall majority, which means there is no overall control of the County Council.

Labour lost one seat, moving their total down to 14, while the Greens lost all their council seats.

Matching a similar picture across the country, the Tory share of the vote increased across Oxfordshire to 41 per cent, while the UKIP share fell.

Several students were standing in the elections. Harry Samuels, a third-year classics student at New college, came last in Cowley, but increased the Lib Dem vote share by a third. Lucas Bartholdi–Saad, Wadham, stood unsuccessfully for Labour in Wolvercote and Summertown, receiving a 2.5 per cent swing. Alex Curtis saw his Conservative vote share decrease in Isis.

In the other key Oxford city divisions, Labour won Cowley, Iffley Fields, Isis, Jericho and Osney. Liberal Democrats won Abingdon North, Headington and Quarry, and Wolvercote and Summertown.

Here are the results of seats won by each party:

  • Conservatives 31 (–)
  • Labour 14 (-1)
  • Lib Dem 13 (+2)
  • Independent 4 (–)
  • Henley Residents Group 1 (+1)
  • Greens 0 (-2)

For a full breakdown of the divisions click here.

Oxford told: “up your game” on gender pay equality

Theo Davies-Lewis
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Oxford told: “up your game” on gender pay equality

Oxford University’s female academics earn 86 per cent of what their male counterparts are paid, according to recent statistics released by Times Higher Education.

The average total earned by female academics at the University from 2015-16 was £43,502, compared to £50,618 paid to their male counterparts.

The gender pay gap at Oxford has decreased by just one per cent since 2014-2015, despite the University’s “committed” position on female promotions, Cherwell has learnt. The gap was slightly smaller than at Cambridge University, where female academics earned only 84 per cent of a male academic’s salary on average.

But on the whole, Cambridge academics were paid less than Oxford professors and senior staff, with the average pay of female and male academics £40,914 and £48,729 respectively.

A University of Oxford spokesperson told Cherwell: “The University is committed to increasing the proportion of women in senior roles.

“At Oxford, both the overall proportion of female professors, as well as the proportion of professors in STEM departments is closely aligned with national and Russell Group averages, and has increased in recent years, as part of a proactive commitment to equality and diversity across all university activities.”

Ellen Peirson-Hagger, Women’s Rep at St. Anne’s College, told Cherwell of her disappointment with the findings: “Sadly it doesn’t surprise me that women academics earn less than their male counterparts. Similar statistics are available across varying professions: the world just isn’t up to speed with the fact that women are every bit as valuable as any of their co-workers.

“As a world-leading academic institution, Oxford needs to set an example and up its game on matters of equality. If they wish to continue to be taken seriously on a world stage where gender inequalities are becoming more and more apparent and realised, the university should take the lead and pay based on merit of work, not of gender.”

Laura McMillen and Monique Keane, the Women’s Officers at Balliol College, told Cherwell: “We think it’s very discouraging for women in Oxford looking to succeed as academics or at the university to see that contributions from women tutors are clearly not as valued as those from men, as made clear by the University’s financial policy.”

The analysis from THE also reveals, however, that the overall pay gap between male and female academics in the UK was 10.53 per cent in 2015-16, a 0.43 percentage point decrease on 2014-15.

It marks the fifth consecutive year that the gap has closed.

Across the UK, the gender pay gap for professors remained smaller at 5.83 per cent, but it did represent an increase on the year before of 0.06 percentage points.

Meanwhile, some universities saw the pay gap between their male and female staff widen. At City, University of London, THE reported that the gender pay gap rose 1.5 percentage points to 10.5 per cent, and at Swansea University there was an increase of 1.3 percentage points to 13.1 per cent.

A spokeswoman for City explained that it had introduced a banding scheme “to make it easier to identify and address any gender anomalies in pay at professorial level.”

She added: “An equal pay review was undertaken last year and further actions are being implemented to address gender pay issues, which are largely among the professoriate.”

“While staff pay has been repeatedly held down by universities insisting that real-term pay cuts are at the limit of affordability, the amount spent on staff as a proportion of universities’ spending has dropped. Embarrassingly, vice-chancellors have been spared this penny pinching and continue to spend lavishly on capital projects,” claims Sally Hunt, general secretary of the University and College Union.

A Labour council is vital to defend Oxford’s public services

Tom Zagoria
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A Labour council is vital to defend Oxford’s public services

For most of us, the last few years haven’t been a time for optimism in politics. There are a lot of students who feel unrepresented in the dramatic lurches that the country has been taking toward a right wing ‘Little England’. There are, of course, plenty of reasons for pessimism. Over the past few years Britain has voted to leave the European Union, potentially threatening Britain’s economic stability and certainly threatening the futures of the thousands of EU nationals who live in Oxford. Moreover, we have seen seven years of austerity measures fail to bring down the national debt at all—in fact it has more than doubled—while the worst off in our society are suffering.

The instinctive response to this is to listen to any voices that promise a change of course. It’s true that we have a Conservative government and a Conservative County Council which have imposed devastating cuts to public services—surely anything is better than that? Suddenly, everything is framed as oppositional—if you are not currently in government, you can ‘oppose’. And if you can oppose the same thing, then you stand for the same thing. Thus we are all ‘progressives’.

But we need to remember that not all ‘progressive’ parties are the same, and not every ‘progressive’ vote will create a more inclusive, equal and open society. Just because the parties of the left and centre are all in opposition doesn’t mean they don’t still stand for something – or have records in office to show what they would actually do.

I’d never joined, campaigned, or voted for a political party before coming to uni, but I’ve been convinced that for the sake of our futures and that of the worst off in our society there is one obvious choice. I’m going to be voting for a Labour government and Labour councillors for one simple reason – it makes a difference, to us and our communities.

Let’s take the County Council elections on 4 May. In these elections there will realistically be two parties which can form the main opposition to the Conservative leadership or even deny them the majority—Labour and the Liberal Democrats. This election will be vital, for among other reasons the Conservatives have put together a proposal to make Oxfordshire a unitary authority, abolishing the Labour majority Oxford City Council. Make no mistake, Oxford is very different to the rest of the county, which is a sea of Middle England blue on electoral maps, and this measure is designed to ensure public services in Oxford are forever Tory-run. What’s the response of the opposition parties? Labour are against, Lib Dems in favour.

Who runs our public services does matter. At the local level Labour councillors still make a difference in protecting frontline services and improving affordability of housing. While many students won’t know what’s being done by each of the different levels of local government, the difference is stark. The Labour-run Oxford City Council has been able to keep almost all frontline services open despite severe budget cuts. Indeed, its homelessness budget has increased to £1.7 million in the last year, while the County Council has cut its homelessness services to roughly nil, closing all its shelters in Oxford and leaving the homelessness rate to skyrocket.

This is a record matched across the country. Labour councils build an average of 2,577 new homes every year (Oxford has recently set up a local housing company backed by local authority finance to provide more affordable homes), while Tory councils build only 1,679—and Liberal Democrat councils even fewer. And, while many Lib Dems are I’m sure honest in the reforms they propose, they remain the party which was in a government under which NHS spending entered its longest ever sustained reduction in spending as a percentage of GDP, a government under which tuition fees trebled, and a government in which the number of rough sleepers doubled across the country and the number of people reliant on food banks went from the tens of thousands to the millions.

In Oxford, we’ll have a choice in these local elections as to what voice we send to represent us in the County Council. And while we may be driven by desperation to seek ‘progressive change’ in whatever form, the narrative that ‘all progressives are the same’ poses tremendous dangers.

This is not the time to believe rhetoric over reality. There are other choices, but this is equally not the time for protest votes; it’s too important for that. To save Oxford’s city council and what remains of its public services, to help the homeless and make Oxford more affordable, and to provide a strong opposition to Tory leadership who can be trusted to actually oppose, there need to be one particular ‘progressive’ party in the County Council—and I believe that party is Labour. On 4 May, make your vote count.

Controversy stikes Oxford local council elections

Jordan Bernstein
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Controversy stikes Oxford local council elections

Oxford’s local election campaigns have been struck by controversy as polling day nears, after Liberal Democrat campaigners have accused the Labour candidate for the University Parks division of “lies and slander” in negative campaigning about her Liberal Democrat opponent.

The Labour candidate is Dr Emma Turnbull, with the Liberal Democrats represented by Lucinda Chamberlain, an Oxford student studying PPE at Brasenose.

A leaflet distributed last week by the Labour campaign claimed that Chamberlain did not “[w]ork hard for Remain during the EU referendum.”

Chamberlain, speaking to Cherwell, said this was a “blatant lie”, and an attempt to mislead voters. She maintains that she “gave 100% to Oxford students for Europe and… did everything in [her] power” for a Remain vote, including “being an incredibly dedicated phone bank manager”.

The claims were also strongly rejected by Harry Samuels, who was co-Chair of the Oxford University Liberal Democrats during the EU referendum. Samuels told Cherwell: “It’s deeply disappointing that Labour have resorted to outright lies about a fantastic, hard-working, pro-EU candidate in this election. Lucinda worked extremely hard in our campaign to remain in the EU.”

Samuels is also running to be a Liberal Democrat councillor in Cowley.

Chamberlain’s campaign has since produced a video detailing her work during the referendum campaign, which included volunteering in call centres and canvassing on the streets of Oxford.

Chamberlain has also received support from followers via Twitter.

Turnbull declined to comment on the allegations, and has thus far chosen not to apologise. A Labour Party spokesperson told Cherwell: “We are proud of our positive and progressive County Council campaign, which has prioritised increased investment in social care services and tackling Oxfordshire’s housing crisis.”

The Electoral Commission’s outline of electoral offences says: “It is an illegal practice to make or publish a false statement of fact about the personal character or conduct of a candidate in order to affect the return of a candidate at an election.”

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