Oxford West & Abingdon
Liberal Democrat hold

The sophisticated and intellectual seat of Oxford West and Abingdon is liberally inclined, well used to tactical voting, and well disposed to Liberal Democrats in local government elections; they have 22 out of 23 councillors (in the most recent May 1999 elections) in that part of the Vale of White Horse district within this seat, and if any other party is on the advance in west Oxford it is the Greens. The Conservatives have no councillors in this part of Oxford, nor have had for some years, and do not seem credible challengers to Evan Harris in this constituency, which includes the vast majority of the 'dreaming spires' of the elite and ancient collegiate university, and not a few of its aspiring dreams.

Dr Evan Harris, currently Liberal Democrat higher education spokesman, was elected here, in a seat where the higher education scarcely gets any higher, in 1997. A former hospital doctor at the Radcliffe, he was born in 1965 and educated at the Blue Coat School, Liverpool and Wadham College, Oxford. Handsome - if with a rather staring gaze - he was previously as Health spokesman strongly in favour of legalising homosexual sex at 16 to make young men more accessible to medical advice, and in February 2001 introduced a bill to legalise human embryo cloning.

Area Percent GB Percent Index GB=100   Thriving Wealthy Achievers, Suburban Areas 20.85% 14.99% 139.04 Affluent Greys, Rural Communities 0.28% 2.13% 12.96 Prosperous Pensioners, Retirement Areas 1.77% 2.49% 71.25 Expanding Affluent Executives, Family Areas 10.17% 4.43% 229.93 Well-Off Workers, Family Areas 9.22% 7.27% 126.81 Rising Affluent Urbanites, Town & City Areas 9.25% 2.56% 360.67 Prosperous Professionals, Metropolitan Areas 5.05% 2.04% 247.27 Better-Off Executives, Inner City Areas 13.57% 3.94% 344.00 Settling Comfortable Middle Agers, Mature Home Owning Areas 15.86% 13.04% 121.62 Skilled Workers, Home Owning Areas 2.30% 12.70% 18.14 Aspiring New Home Owners, Mature Communities 3.74% 8.14% 45.97 White Collar Workers, Better-Off Multi Ethnic Areas 1.33% 4.02% 33.11 Striving Older People, Less Prosperous Areas 1.07% 3.19% 33.73 Council Estate Residents, Better-Off Homes 4.89% 11.31% 43.21 Council Estate Residents, High Unemployment 0.00% 3.06% 0.00 Council Estate Residents, Greatest Hardship 0.00% 2.52% 0.00 People in Multi-Ethnic, Low-Income Areas 0.00% 2.10% 0.00 Unclassified Unclassified 0.64% 0.06% 1,034.50

Area Percent GB Percent Index GB=100   £0-5K 5.43% 9.41% 57.69 £5-10K 11.52% 16.63% 69.25 £10-15K 13.74% 16.58% 82.85 £15-20K 13.00% 13.58% 95.72 £20-25K 11.12% 10.39% 107.03 £25-30K 9.07% 7.77% 116.65 £30-35K 7.23% 5.79% 124.74 £35-40K 5.70% 4.33% 131.52 £40-45K 4.48% 3.27% 137.21 £45-50K 3.53% 2.48% 142.01 £50-55K 2.78% 1.90% 146.09 £55-60K 2.21% 1.47% 149.59 £60-65K 1.76% 1.15% 152.61 £65-70K 1.41% 0.91% 155.25 £70-75K 1.13% 0.72% 157.57 £75-80K 0.92% 0.57% 159.64 £80-85K 0.75% 0.46% 161.48 £85-90K 0.61% 0.37% 163.15 £90-95K 0.50% 0.31% 164.67 £95-100K 0.42% 0.25% 166.07 £100K + 2.32% 1.34% 172.84