Skip to content

Cllr Maggie Filipova-Rivers elected as new Leader at South Oxfordshire District Council

Cllr Maggie Filipova-Rivers
Cllr Maggie Filipova-Rivers

Published Friday 12 December 2025

Cllr Maggie Filipova-Rivers is the new Leader of South Oxfordshire District Council. She was chosen by councillors during a vote at the Council meeting last night (Thursday 11 December 2025).

Her election as Leader comes after Cllr David Rouane chose to stand down having led the council for four years – and having served as the Cabinet Member for Housing and Environment for two and a half years before that. He will remain in his role as councillor.

Cllr Maggie Filipova-Rivers and Cllr David Rouane
Photo above: Cllr Maggie Filipova-Rivers and Cllr David Rouane – credit Noah Filipova-Rivers

Cllr Filipova-Rivers, who is ward member for Goring, has served since 2019, as Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Housing and Communities at South Oxfordshire District Council, and since May 2025, as a county councillor in Oxfordshire. Her work spans affordable housing, homelessness prevention, public health, and community resilience, including playing a key role in the Covid response. She also served as Vice Chair of the Oxfordshire Health Improvement Board.

Maggie is a public policy and economic development professional with extensive experience in green growth, refugee integration, and multi-sector partnership work. She holds an MSc in the Political Economy of Development and a BA in Financial and Business Economics. Her professional experience includes work with the World Bank’s Finance, Competitiveness and Innovation Global Practice, where she contributed to major investment programmes decarbonisation and economic inclusion. Alongside this, she advises more than 180 councils across the UK on refugee integration strategy through City of Sanctuary UK, helping local authorities strengthen access to a broad range of services and develop more inclusive communities. 

Cllr Filipova-Rivers paid tribute to Cllr Rouane and said: “David has served South Oxfordshire with dedication and vision – first as Cabinet Member for Housing and Environment, and then as Leader for the past four years. His leadership has guided us through significant challenges and achievements, always with a focus on improving the lives of our residents and protecting our environment – most recently in his support of the innovative Joint Local Plan and the Two Unitary Councils proposal for local government reorganisation.

“David has always prioritised tacking homelessness and improving the availability of genuinely affordable housing. Amongst many achievements as leader, he has notably overseen the return of the council as a Registered Provider of social housing for the first time since the housing stock was sold off in 1997.

“On behalf of the council and our community, thank you, David, for your commitment and hard work. We wish you all the very best for the future.”

Cllr Filipova-Rivers continued: “I look forward to embracing my new role. We all know times are tough. Many people are facing the sharp end of the cost-of-living crisis, unaffordable housing, long waits for services, and a growing sense of hopelessness. The challenge of showing our communities that we are firmly in their corner, at a time when trust in institutions is at an all-time low, does not escape me.

“As Leader of South Oxfordshire District Council, my commitment is simple: to provide the strategic clarity our Council needs to navigate this period of profound change, while holding firm to our vision of a proactive council that does not let structural reform become a reason for inaction, a council that looks for ways to help, not reasons to say no. We cannot promise that the world will become easier overnight, but we can promise to meet the challenges ahead with competence and compassion.

“This includes protecting essential services and ensuring that reorganisation does not come at the expense of residents who rely on us most, delivering on our Council Plan Priorities, safeguarding the district’s voice in Local Government Reorganisation and Devolution, progressing our innovative Joint Local Plan and leaving a strong, positive legacy – so ultimately the successor authority inherits services, policies, and a culture we all can be proud of.

“My door will always be open to any councillor, officer, or resident who wants to work together. We have an important few months ahead of us, and we can make them count.”

Cllr Filipova-Rivers’ was elected unopposed and by a unanimous decision.

Cllr Filipova-Rivers’ new role as Leader means there are some changes in the Council’s cabinet. They are as follows:

At the same meeting, and at Vale of White Horse Council meeting on Wednesday 10 December, Adrianna Partridge was confirmed as the councils’ new, shared Chief Executive. Adrianna will formally take up the post on 1 January 2026.