MP Shaun Woodward has flatly denied claims that he is looking for a new Labour seat, writes John Chipperfield.

Reports from the Midlands suggested that the MP for Witney, who defected from the Tories last year, would be selected to fight the West Bromwich East constituency at the next General Election.

But Mr Woodward, who is in America, telephoned the Oxford Mail yesterday with an emphatic denial that he had either sought or been offered any other seat. He said: "I have made it clear all along that I will continue to serve my constituents in Witney for as long as I am MP, that any decision on my future which could be outside politics would not be made until next year. The story is without any foundation whatsoever. It always has been my intention, and always will be, to continue working for all my constituents in west Oxfordshire."

Mr Woodward said that had his wife, Camilla, been contacted, she would have been able to confirm the story was a tissue of lies. It had been claimed that Mr Woodward was being lined up to replace veteran MP Peter Snape at West Bromwich East, a safe Labour seat.

Labour sources had been quoted as saying that Mr Snape would be promised a seat in the House of Lords or the chairmanship of a Government quango if he stood down.

But Mr Snape later said he had no intention of stepping aside.