A FORMER president of Oxford Brookes University's student union beat the deputy leader of Oxford City Council to stand in her ward for Labour next year.

It is understood Diko Blackings will stand in Blackbird Leys after experienced councillor Linda Smith was deselected in the ward.

Ms Smith claimed her deselection was engineered by left wing Momentum activists. But Momentum denied any responsibility.

Deputy party leader Tom Watson slammed the deselection as 'nihilism, pure and simple'.

No official announcement has been made by the party.

Rae Humberstone has also been reselected as Labour's other candidate for Blackbird Leys and will stand in 2020. 

Hosnieh Djafari-Marbini, the city council's Labour councillor in Northfield Brook, has also been reselected. 

Elections will be held for all 48 councillors' posts in May 2020 because of planned boundary changes.

Half of the city council's councillors were elected in elections held in May 2018.