Oxfordshire Conservatives to vote for new leader

The leadership of the party will be voted on by 52 Tory councillors

Conservative councillors at Oxfordshire County Council will meet later to vote for a new party leader.

The leadership of the party will be decided by 52 Tory councillors at a private group meeting at County Hall in New Road in Oxford.

Deputy leader David Robertson and former cabinet member Ian Hudspeth are the only contenders after Peter Handley decided not to run on Wednesday.

Current Leader Keith Mitchell will stand down after more than a decade.

The new leader will then be put forward to also replace Mr Mitchell as the leader of the county council, with all 74 councillors across the political spectrum casting their vote. Mr Mitchell will step down as council leader on 15 May.

Caused controversy

The new leader will take the council into the 2013 local elections.

Mr Robertson represents Witney East and has served as a cabinet member for a decade and as Mr Mitchell's deputy since 2007.

Keith Mitchell hopes to continue in a political or public service role

Mr Hudspeth, who represents Woodstock, was a cabinet member until he stood against Mr Mitchell in a surprise leadership election last year.

Mr Mitchell has served as county councillor for the Bloxham Division since 1989.

He has been council leader for more than 10 years.

During recent years, Mr Mitchell's leadership has overseen council spending cuts, with the authority needing to save up to £119m by 2015.

He caused controversy in December 2010 when he angered tuition fee protesters by describing them in a tweet as "ugly, badly-dressed student rabble".

David Barkley, president of The Oxford University Student Union, described Mr Mitchell's comments as "truly outrageous".