RUMOURS that Oxford East MP Andrew Smith had joined the Con-Lib Dem coalition love-in have proved unfounded.

The Labour MP was spotted in jubilant mood sporting a blue and yellow scarf, below, but he was at Wembley, not Westminster.

The MP was savouring the atmosphere before Oxford United’s victorious return to the Football League and said the big occasion brought back memories of travelling to watch United’s triumph at the London stadium in the Milk Cup Final in 1986.

And Mr Smith was not the only Oxfordshire MP backing the U’s. Ed Vaizey, the MP for Wantage, ardent Didcot Town fan and now the Didcot club’s president, reached across the football divide and wished United well.

Mr Vaizey worked hard to prove his loyalty to Didcot when he was first elected in 2005, even sporting a Didcot Town FC tie for one of his first appearances in Parliament.

SPARE a thought for Labour city councillor Colin Cook, who experienced a rather arduous journey between Birmingham and Oxford’s Russian twin city, Perm.

Mr Cook told The Insider that he got off a flight between Frankfurt and Perm a stop too early and then had to endure a 16-hour train ride before arriving in time to attend Perm’s Victory Day (VE Day) celebrations on May 9, marking the Allies’ defeat of Germany at the end of the Second World War.

“I wasn’t happy when I found out I had got off the plane at the wrong airport,” said Mr Cook.

“You won’t be able to print what I said in a family newspaper.”

Happily, Mr Cook’s journey home was uneventful.

Former Oxford West and Abingdon MP Dr Evan Harris does not seem to be short of work since losing his seat at the election.

The Liberal Democrat was narrowly defeated by Conservative newcomer Nicola Blackwood in what many regarded as one of the biggest shocks of the General Election.

But since that night, Dr Harris has hardly left our TV screens and appears to be carving out a new career in the media as a political pundit.