General election 2017: Banbury and Bicester candidates revealed

Candidates standing for north Oxfordshire in the 2017 general election. Clockwise, from top left, Dickie Bird (UKIP), Roseanne Edwards (Ind), John Howson (Lib Dem), Sean Woodcock (Lab), Victoria Prentis (Con) and Ian Middleton (Green). NNL-170516-172224001

Nominations closed on Thursday last week.

In the Banbury Guardian region, voters in the North Oxfordshire, South Northants, Witney and Stratford-on-Avon constituencies will be going to the polls on June 8, between 7am and 10pm.

All of the candidates in North Oxfordshire stood during the last general election in 2015. The candidates are as follows:

> Dickie Bird (UKIP) – Mr Bird is a former soldier and college porter and stood for election in the north Oxfordshire constituency in the 2015 general election. He also stood in the Witney constituency, former Prime Minister David Cameron’s old seat in the by-election which took place last year.

Mr Bird served in the army for 20 years as part of Oxfordshire’s local regiment, The Royal Green Jackets, now called The Rifles. He has also worked at Oriel College, in Oxford. He joined UKIP in 2009.

> Roseanne Edwards (Ind) – Mrs Edwards is a reporter for the Banbury Guardian and a health campaigner. She has stood for election previously, as an independent in 2010 and for the National Health Action Party in 2015. She is a mother of four, a grandmother of two and has lived and worked in Banbury for 40 years.

> John Howson (Lib Dem) – Mr Howson is Oxfordshire County councillor for the St Margaret’s ward and stood in the north Oxfordshire constituency in the last general election in 2015.

Mr Howson has lived in Oxfordshire since 1979, becoming a county councillor in 2013. Joining the Liberal Democrats in 1966, his career has included being a teacher – where in 1977 he was stabbed in the classroom by a former pupil – a university lecturer, a civil servant, government adviser and businessman

> Ian Middleton (Green) – Mr Middleton stood for the Green in 2015.

He is a former musician, writer and ethical entrepreneur who spent 25 years in the retail sector building a national high street retail business which moved exclusively online in 2015.

> Victoria Prentis (Con) – Mrs Prentis is the incumbent MP and was born in Aynho. She’s the daughter of former Daventry MP Tim Boswell. Before becoming MP she was a barrister and defended the government in some of its legal cases.

> Sean Woodcock (Lab) – Mr Woodcock is standing as the Labour candidate after he failed to win the seat at the last election in 2015.

He serves as a councillor on Cherwell District and Banbury Town councils and has done so so for five years.