Blackbird Leys is a civil parish and ward in Oxford, England. According to the 2011 census, the population of the ward (whose boundaries may change occasionally so as to ensure minimal malapportionment) stood at 6,077. Unlike most parts of the City of Oxford, the area has a civil parish, which was created in 1990. In 2011 the population was recorded as 13,100. History Early history There was a Bronze Age or Iron Age settlement on the site. Evidence has been found suggesting pits and roundhouses, with remains of pottery and a cylindrical loom weight of a kind previously known only from East Anglia. The area was originally called Blackford Leys; blackford after the dark-coloured ford which crossed the southern branch of Northfield Brook at the entrance to Blackbird Leys farm. The ford would be located where Windale Avenue crosses Northfield Brook. The farm was also called Blackford Leys farm. The Middle English leys meaning pasture or meadow. Modern history The Blackbird Leys Estate was built mainly in the 1950s and 1960s to meet the then pressing need for housing. It was part of a plan to re-house people from the dilapidated inner city. This included large-scale clearance of a site near to where the Oxford Ice Rink was built (The Oxpens). Many of the families that moved onto the estate originally came from this area. It was also a convenient site for factory workers at the Morris Motors Limited plant in nearby Cowley. Politics The area has traditionally been staunchly Labour. The Independent Working Class Association performed strongly in the mid-2000s, holding three of the four council seats on Oxford City Council between 2006 and 2008. Andrew Smith, the local MP from 1987 to 2017, lives on the estate. His late wife, Valerie Smith, was also a city councillor and county councillor for the area and former Lord Mayor of Oxford. In stark contrast to Oxford as a whole, which had a Remain result of 71% in the 2016 UK referendum on EU membership, Blackbird Leys and neighbouring estates voted narrowly to leave the European Union. 1991 street disturbances Around 1991, Blackbird Leys suffered from joy riding. Young men from the estate would steal cars and 'display' them (with a variety of high-speed stunts) to an audience gathered outside the estate shops (known locally as the 'top shops'). Following a crackdown by police on joyriding in September 1991, some 150