ABOUT
I’m Veronica Oakeshott
For twenty years, I’ve been campaigning for a more healthy environment, a kinder society where people treat each other with respect and public services that won’t let us down. Through my paid work, as a professional campaigner for charities like Save the Children and the End Violence Against Women Coalition, through roles as an elected representative and through volunteering in my local community, I love bringing people together to make change.
I’ve lived in Africa and many places across the UK, but Oxfordshire is home. Its where I live with my family, where I got married and where I spent my summer holidays as a child. I was proud to stand as the Labour MP candidate, here where i live in the 2024 election. There’s so much to love about our area, as well as much to improve.
When I was little my dad made all the big decisions in our house. That sowed a seed of interest in democracy in me. Since then, I’ve always been interested in how people can get involved in shaping their own futures, how they can be heard and have impact. You might call it campaigning.
I’ve helped a lot of people to campaign, to find their voice, speak out on the stuff that affects them and make change. I’ve learnt from them along the way. I love working with people who, like me, believe things can be better.
I’ve also learnt a lot from my own family. My late mother, who I lived with and helped care for daily, helped me see the strains of NHS up close. I know how its dedicated staff are pushed to near breaking point. This has to change.
My kids keep me learning too. It’s amazing to see how childhood is increasingly moving online – bringing both risks and opportunities. I’m working hard to ensure they know the feel of heavy muddy wellies and the smell of autumn leaves as well as how to find their favourite show on youtube.
Balancing work with caring responsibilities is a juggle and I’ve been lucky to be able to draw on after school clubs and adult social carers. I want everyone to get that help. Too many parents or carers are effectively priced out of the workplace, by sky high care costs.
I’m also learning from my husband, who runs a small business in Bicester. We both feel passionately that business can be a force for good. Greening our economy will bring jobs, and skills and prosperity.
But running a business in today’s economy is a constant battle against high inflation, high interest rates and political shocks.
So when I do what I love best, campaigning, I bring all that learning and an openness to new ideas, to the strategy table.
We are facing so many challenges as a country, but many opportunities too. To seize them, everyone needs the freedom to take part.
I am never happier than when I’m campaigning – whether its campaigning to make our roads safer or for a new law to stop banks profiting from global deforestation – I love working for change. And by building teams and thinking creatively, I’m happy to say I’ve had lots of wins. I led the team that changed the law on domestic abuse perpetrators, won changes to make off-shore business more transparent, and led the campaign that saved the 1966 world cup statue for its original host community.
Campaigning
I care deeply about our environment. The state of our rivers and sea concerns me and the changes in our biodiversity. I lead a team of campaigners at the environmental charity, Global Witness, to end the global deforestation crisis.My work has helped encourage financiers to divest/freeze their investments in deforesting companies.
The Environment
Politics has a bad reputation – and after recent years, perhaps that’s not surprising – but its so important because it touches everyone’s lives. I’ve lived in countries where democracy is fairly new, and I’ve seen what can go wrong when the links between politicians and people are weak and remote and people don’t feel they have the right to speak up. No one politician can have personal experience of every walk in life, so we need politicians who listen as well as ‘do’.