Tony Benn's granddaughter to stand for election

The granddaughter of the late Labour politician Tony Benn has been selected to stand in next year's general election, as she bids to become the fifth generation of her family to sit in the Commons.

Emily Benn will contest Croydon South for Labour in May next year, but she will have to overturn a 15,818 Tory majority if she is to win the seat and join her uncle Hilary Benn in the Commons.

Benn, 24, said it was "insulting" to suggest that her family's history had anything to do with her selection and insisted there was no extra pressure at become of her ancestry.

As well as her uncle and grandfather, Ms Benn's great-grandfather William Wedgwood Benn, her great-great-grandfather, Sir John Williams Benn and great-great-grandfather Daniel Homes, were all MPs.

Tony Benn died in March at the age of 88, with David Cameron describing his death as a "sad day for British politics".