OXFORD City Council leader Susan Brown will stand to regain her Churchill ward in next month's elections.

Nominations for all 24 city wards were released by Oxford City Council yesterday ahead of the election on May 3.

Because Oxford has two city councillors in each ward, on that day only one councillor post in each ward will be up for re-election.

Some incumbents, such as Ms Brown, are standing again while others are not.

The election for the other half of the council’s 48 councillors will be held in 2020.

Ms Brown, who took over as leader from Bob Price, was first elected in her Churchill ward in 1994 and stood down as a councillor in 2006.

She returned to the city council in the same ward in 2012 and has held it since.

Next month she will stand against Peter Coggins for the Liberal Democrats, William Vowell for the Green Party and Jake Whittingham for the Conservative Party.

Alex Donnelly, an academic at Oxford University and veteran, will look to secure the Hinskey Park ward for Labour.

It has been held by Mr Price, who stood down as council leader in January after 10 years in the role. He was first elected as a city councillor in 1983 and has remained on the council since.

Mr Donnelly will face opposition from Conservative candidate Kate Kettle, Robert Paynter from the Green Party and Adam Povey from the Liberal Democrats.

The current Lord Mayor of Oxford, Jean Fooks, will not stand for her Summertown ward again. Michael Gotch will stand in it for the Liberal Democrats, along with Rabyah Khan for Labour, Larry Sanders for the Green Party and David Nimmo Smith for the Conservatives.

Mr Nimmo Smith is a former county councillor, having lost his Henley division in 2017, and is currently cabinet member for development at South Oxfordshire District Council.

The Labour Party and Conservative parties will fight in every Oxford ward, while the Green Party will field 23 candidates and the Liberal Democrats 21. There will be two independent candidates.

Polls will open at 7am on May 3 and close at 10pm. The results are expected to be announced early on May 4.

Nominations for elections in West Oxfordshire were released on Friday and Cherwell District Council will also hold elections on May 3.