Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and the old saying seems to ring especially true when it comes to members of Oxford City Council.

Oxford Mail reader Alan Morgan, with his tongue firmly in his cheek, took a dim view of the physical qualities of the councillors. In a letter to the paper recently he said they were, quite frankly, an attractively challenged bunch.

Deputy Lord Mayor Beryl Keen was quick to defend her fellow councillors and offered to prove our contributor wrong. The result was an invitation to a photocall at Oxford Town Hall yesterday when seven councillors turned up to face the camera.

Deputy leader Maureen Christian said: "I think that if the writer had said we were less than intelligent or stupid, I would have been more concerned. There are some councillors who speak very well or I find entertaining, but what they look like in the long run does not matter.

Jean Fooks, Liberal Democrat, said: "I don't think we are elected for our beauty, but we are reasonably turned out, human and approachable." Liberal Democrat, Catherine Hodgkinson, agreed. She said: "We are not really there as a beauty parade. If we chose people just by their looks, I hate to think what type of city council we would end up with. Besides, beauty is in the eye of the beholder and I haven't found anything objectionable in the looks of my fellow councillors, even if I have in their politics."

Council leader John Tanner said: "I think that as the pictures show the city council is full of beautiful people and we shall be offering the people of Oxford some beautiful policies as well."

One question remains: is Alan Morgan a glamour boy or what?

Story date: Thursday 15 April

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.