OXFORD University has rubbished reports that Theresa May was ‘snubbed’ in a list of portraits celebrating diversity across the university.

National media reported this morning that the omission of the Prime Minister was the university giving itself a ‘first-class degree in political correctness’ and was left wing bias.

In The Daily Telegraph Tory MP David Willets said: “Oxford should be proud of the fact that they produced Theresa May and Cressida Dick.

“They should not have been omitted from the list.”

Chris McGovern, chairman of the Campaign for Real Education said: “It is quite extraordinary the prime minister is not there.

“They are punishing her for Brexit.”

In response to the backlash Oxford University spokesman Stuart Gillespie pointed out that the nominations came in before Theresa May became PM.

He said: “What the media reports fail to mention is that the nominations closed on July 8 of last year.

“This was before Theresa May became Prime Minister.

“The nominations were made by staff and students so from over 100 nominations of living Oxonians.”

He added: “This was a small project that was not able to capture every aspect of diversity or every type of achievement.

“However, we hope this initiative will act as a catalyst for our departments and colleges to think about their own collections of portraits and whether they are representative of their current staff and student bodies.”

Among the people included in the list of 24 portraits is award-winning director Ken Loach and human rights activist Kumi Naidoo.

The portraits will go on display at an exhibition towards the end of the year with a time and location to be confirmed.

They are then expected to sit permanently at the Examination School Building at High Street, Oxford.