There was cake and music. The weather was perfect. At first glance, it could have been a joyful community gathering in a sun-dappled Cotswolds village park, but the placards gave the game away.
These pulled no punches, criticising the policies and stances championed by the US vice-president, JD Vance, who is enjoying a country break down the road.
About 100 people, mostly women, turned up for the “not welcome” party organised by the Stop Trump Coalition on the park opposite the Co-op in Charlbury.
“He’s simply not welcome here,” said therapist Sue Moon, from nearby Chipping Norton, who was carrying a placard reading: “We don’t want him. Cotswold childless cat ladies say go home”, a reference to Vance’s typically blunt put-down of Democrats.
Moon, who has children and no cats, said the Cotswolds was earning a reputation as a bolt-hole for the rich and powerful – former prime minister David Cameron lives nearby. “That’s not what we’re about. We don’t want anything to do with people like him,” she said.
Natasha Phillips – who had travelled 70 miles from Bath to attend the event being billed as a “Dance against Vance” – bore a placard saying: “JD Vance – the guy who bullied a war hero from the comfort of his couch.”
“The way he treated Volodymyr Zelenskyy was disgusting,” she said. “The Ukrainian people are heroes. British people admire the way they are standing up to [Vladimir] Putin. I wanted to come here to show that.”
Chris Tatton, a long-term resident of Charlbury and a former councillor, said one of the worst things he had seen in a lifetime of watching politics was Vance’s ambush of the Ukrainian president. “That was disgraceful,” he said.
His friend, retired union organiser Steve Akers, said even worse for him was the sight of starving children in Gaza. “That wouldn’t happen without this US government.”
One placard said: “Make Charlbury great again – go home.” Another said: “Not too posh to protest.” A third: “Rolling hills. Not rolling back climate change.”
There were plenty of versions of the meme of Vance as a bloated baby. In June, a Norwegian man, Mads Mikkelsen, 21, accused American border officials of denying him entry into the US because he had the meme saved on his phone.
More wholesomely, a boy with a skateboard wore a T-shirt with a cheerful Canadian motif. And the organisers had brought along a Colin the Caterpillar cake with an image of Vance’s face attached to it.
Rachel, a carer from Banbury, Oxfordshire, said: “I’m most worried about his environmental policies. They risk eliminating the whole of humanity, all the creatures on the Earth.”
Over the past few decades, this corner of Oxfordshire has been turned into a celeb-magnet – a place of designer delis, gastropubs, spas and private clubs.
It is associated with rightwingers. Jeremy Clarkson’s Diddly Squat farm shop and pub attracts fans of his TV shows and his conservative views (though Clarkson called Vance “a bearded God-botherer” in a Times column earlier this year.)
In the interest of political balance, Vance’s predecessor as veep, Kamala Harris, was spotted in Charlbury’s pub, the Bull, last month.
House prices here have soared, making it hard for local young people to find a place to live. A modern three-bedroomed house in Charlbury will set you back the best part of £500,000. As in rural areas across England, services such as health and transport are stretched.
Vance probably won’t see the issues. He is believed to be staying in an 18th-century manor house, owned by the lightbulb millionaire Johnny Hornby and his wife, Pippa, a London art patron and collector, who are friends of Cameron.
Jonathan Mazower, communications director for Survival International, a charity that works with Indigenous peoples, did not attend the “party” but was angry that Vance had been invited.
“There’s massive disruption – all roads and footpaths have been closed, all cars are searched, no visitors are allowed in. There are police and US Secret Service agents everywhere,” said Mazower, who lives near the sprawling digs where Vance is staying.
“But more important than the disruption is what he represents. On the whole people here are very much live and let live but this is something else entirely. Trump’s No 2 coming here feels like an absolute outrage and imposition.
“The massive police and Secret Service presence makes any normal protest impossible, so we’ve had to resort to putting up placards around the village, some of which are being taken down.”
Andy Graham, the leader of West Oxfordshire district council, compared the scenes to the Will Smith film Men in Black. “Seeing someone dressed up with black suit, sunglasses, the whole lot, you kind of felt it was a bit over the top really,” he said. “We understand that people do need security but I think they haven’t been discreet about it.”
