The Tories today continued their assault on defecting MP Shaun Woodward as he spent his first full day as a member of the Labour Party.

A hail of demands for him to resign his seat and fight a by-election were led by Tory leader William Hague.

Shocked Conservative Party officials in Witney are now looking for a replacement.

West Oxfordshire Conservative Association took the first step last night towards unseating Mr Woodward.

The association's management committee of four men and four women met at party headquarters in Witney and urged the selection of a new Parliamentary candidate. It also called on Mr Woodward to resign immediately. The next move will be on January 11 when the executive committee meets, with a new party candidate top of the agenda.

Association chairman Barry Tanswell said: "The events of the weekend have come as a great shock to us. The committee utterly condemns the decision of its former MP. It calls upon him to resign.

"To do anything else would be dishonourable and the constituents of west Oxfordshire, who elected a Conservative MP, must be given the chance to make their judgement on his actions."

But an unrepentant Mr Woodward not only refused to consider stepping down as an MP but also revealed that his parents - both aged over 80 and "lifelong" Conservatives - had joined him in transferring their allegiance to New Labour. And he indicated he believed other Tory MPs might be on the verge of following him into Tony Blair's fold in protest at what he described as the Conservative Party's swing to the right.

With Parliament going into recess today, it was thought Mr Woodward would defer his first appearance on the Labour benches until the new millennium.

Yesterday, he formalised his defection by signing his Labour membership card and meeting local activists in Witney.

Constituency party chairman Mick Enright welcomed him as the seat's first Labour MP and assured him that party members had respected his work for local people since he won Lord Hurd's old seat for the Tories with a 7,000 majority in 1997. But the Conservative association's Barry Tanswell said the local party had been inundated with phone calls from furious voters insistent that Mr Woodward should resign.

Despite speculation the new Labour MP might be offered a safe Labour seat and a party campaigning role in return for the spectacular coup he provided for Mr Blair, no announcement was expected before the Christmas recess on his future in the party.

A spokesman for the Prime Minister said although Mr Woodward was an "able and talented" politician, no consideration had been given to any role he may play in the party's future. *See News and Features

Story date: Tuesday 21 December

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