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Rejecting a False Choice
ByJohn MayI don’t often write directly about local political issues. When I do, I think it is important to be clear that these are my own personal reflections as an Oxfordshire resident. They do not represent the views of any organisation I lead or support, nor of any of the civic offices I am privileged to…
Eleven Things I’ll Never Quite Understand About Americans
ByJohn MayOn the 250th anniversary of American independence Happy 250th birthday, America. It takes a certain confidence to declare independence from the world’s most powerful empire in 1776. It takes even more confidence to spend the next two and a half centuries explaining to everyone else why you were right. As someone with both British and…
Back to the ‘70s…
ByJohn MayA friend posted on my Facebook timeline the other day, “First you believe in Father Christmas; then you are Father Christmas; then you look like Father Christmas.” I am currently entering that third phase, even if I’m not as hirsute as the big man himself. But I am certainly getting older. I know this because…
Touching the hem of celebrity
ByJohn MayThe last few days have brought me just yards away from the UK’s headline making news stories. I am pleased to report that I have not been too affected by this and, as yet, will not be asking my friends at Colman Getty to secure publicity on the back of these experiences. On Wednesday evening,…
A welcome to new UK citizens
ByJohn MayAs a Deputy Lieutenant, I have the privilege of presenting citizenship certificates to new UK citizens. Here’s the text of the speech I made at this afternoon’s ceremony… Good afternoon everybody and a very warm welcome to you – to this wonderful County of Oxfordshire. It’s one of England larger counties with an area of…
Into Småland
ByJohn MayToday Sweden changed. Not dramatically at first, but as we drove north from Karlskrona the open agricultural landscape of the south gradually gave way to something that felt much more like the Sweden we had imagined before coming here. More trees, more lakes, more red wooden houses and, eventually, great stretches of forest disappearing off…

