Tributes from the community continued to be paid yesterday following the death of long-time Blackbird Leys councillor Val Smith.

Mrs Smith, the wife of Oxford East MP Andrew Smith, died at about 9am. She had fought a long battle with cancer.

The former city and county councillor resigned in September after 27 years of representing the people of Blackbird Leys as the disease became more aggressive.

After several months of treatment at Oxford’s John Radcliffe Hospital she was moved to Sobell House Hospice in Headington in April.

In a statement Mr Smith, who was re-elected as the Labour MP last week, said: “Our beautiful Val passed away peacefully in her sleep at Sobell House.

“I have lost the most wonderful, loving wife who has been my rock and inspiration, and our family a devoted mother and grandmother.

“Val brought so much joy to all who knew her, helped so many people and worked tirelessly for the community she loved.

“We will miss her so much.”

Blackbird Leys Parish Council chairman Gordon Roper said: “It is a great loss to the community. She will be sorely missed by the estate.

“Our thoughts are with Andrew and the family.

“I feel absolutely gutted. She taught me a lot and helped me no end on the parish council and as a friend.

“We would have tea and try to put the world to rights between us."

Mrs Smith was a city council lor for 24 years and a county councillor since 2005.

Balfour Road resident Brian Lester added: “It’s tragic. She was the best councillor we’ve ever had and will ever have.

“She was determined that the people of Blackbird Leys would not be dumped on, that we would get the best she could get us.

“In every way she was a hardcore champion for the people of Blackbird Leys.

“We couldn’t have asked for more.”

Blackbird Leys Credit Union chairman Jim Hewitt said: “I’ve known her since I moved to the estate in 1977.

“She’s been a tower of strength in the community.

“She was very dedicated to the people of Oxford and Blackbird Leys, as well as a neighbour and a friend.”

Kestrel Crescent resident Liz Helliwell added: “She was very helpful and generous and a lovely person.

“She was there to help anyone, she certainly helped my family. My daughter and son both got her advice and help when they were looking for housing.

“You could talk to her about anything. There’s going to be a big, big hole left.”

Mrs Smith first became a city councillor for Blackbird Leys in 1987, but stood down in 2005 for three years after becoming frustrated with the city council’s lack of power.

When she resigned from the city council she joined the county council, representing The Leys and focusing on education and children’s services.

In her time as a politician she also served as Lord Mayor of Oxford and the county council’s vice-chairwoman.

Fellow county councillor and close friend Liz Brighouse said: “She was so ill and has clung on for so long.

It’s so surreal, even though we knew she was going.

“It’s an enormous relief in some ways that the pain and the agony is over.

“You just wanted to take it away and hoped it would disappear, even though you knew it wouldn’t.”

She added: “Val served the people of Blackbird Leys and the children across the county.

“She was someone who was adopted – she knew and understood about vulnerable children and wanted to help them.

“She has been in our thoughts every day and she will carry on being in people’s thoughts.

“We will think, ‘what would Val have done?’ In a sense she’s just around the corner watching us. We’re still able to use her wisdom.

“I’ve been very, very lucky to have known her.”

Oxford City Council leader Bob Price said: “It seems inconceivable that Val is no longer with us, working with her usual energy and good humour to look after the interests of the people of the city that she loved.

“Her contributions to debate and discussion at council and in meetings of the Labour group were always notable for their wisdom, compassion and a real understanding of the struggles faced by working people in their everyday lives.

“On a personal level, I will badly miss her infectious sense of fun, her passionate and courageous contributions to difficult policy issues and the sheer warmth of her personality. She was a wonderful human being.

“We will mourn the loss of a dear friend, a loyal colleague and a fierce campaigner against injustice and inequality.

“Our heart goes out to Andrew, for whom Val has been a wonderful friend and partner throughout their long life together.”

Deputy leader of Oxfordshire County Council Rodney Rose said: “Val was an articulate and hardworking councillor who rolled up her sleeves and served her electors with distinction.

“She was held in great respect across the political divide.”

Oxford City Council spokesman Tom Jennings said a Book of Condolences has been placed in the reception of Oxford Town Hall.

The life and times of Val Smith

VAL Smith, who was in her 60s when she died, lived in Oxford since her teens.

Originally born to an Irish woman and an American man, she was adopted at the age of three by Annie and William Lambert.

She grew up in Salford, Greater Manchester and first came to Oxford when she was 16.

Speaking to the Oxford Mail in 1999 she said: “I was hitchhiking to Bournemouth and was dropped off in Oxford.

“I had never seen anything so beautiful. I fell in love with the place and found a job the next day.”

She met Mr Smith while he was a student in the city and they married in 1976, living on Flaxfield Road on the estate. They have a son, Luke, and granddaughter Mirai, 16.

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