Oxfordshire County Council has 74 elected members representing all parts of the county.

Its decision-making body is called the Cabinet.

The authority has responsibility for many key local services and employs 19,000 people to deliver them.

Each year the council manages £0.5 billion of public money in the provision of these services on behalf of Oxfordshire's 615,000 people.

Its responsibilities include schools, social services, the fire service, roads, libraries and the museums service, trading standards, land use, transport planning and waste management.

The Tories won a landslide victory to seize control of the authority in the elections in May 2005.

The party won 43 of a possible 74 seats, the first time County Hall had been under the control of a single political group for 20 years.

Conservative county council leader Keith Mitchell and his party took control of the decision-making executive and promised a series of radical reforms, including free evening parking in Oxford and a promise "to end the war on the motorist".

Before the election, Labour held 24 seats. They were left with nine.

Address: Oxfordshire County Council County Hall New Road Oxford OX1 1ND Main switchboard: 01865 792422 Fax: 01865 726155 Website: www.oxfordshire.gov.uk Email: online@oxfordshire.gov.uk List of current members: Click here