Nostalgia came flooding back as the outspoken Tory MP John Redwood visited Witney for a lunchtime engagement on May 23.

Mr Redwood was the guest speaker at a West Oxfordshire Conservative Association lunch, attended by about 100 party workers and supporters -- who all paid £12.50 to hear him speak about regionalisation and Europe.

But Mr Redwood, once a contender for the party leadership, has links with the town dating back to 1973 when, as a 22-year-old Oxford graduate, he was elected as a county councillor for the town's North ward.

"The wanderer returns," the MP for Wokingham said. "I have fond memories of the town. It started me on the political road."

He added: "I was living at Middle Barton and it was the only seat where the party did not have a candidate, so I took up the challenge.

"I remember those three weeks on the doorsteps of Witney, come wind, come rain. But it paid off because I won by 52 votes. It was a launch pad.

"And I remember my part in securing the Witney bypass when I led a delegation from the county to see the Minister of Transport."

In his speech at the Witney Lakes Resort restaurant, Mr Redwood attacked regional government, calling it a recipe for spending more money on unnecessary bureaucracy.