Stanwell councillor Victor Agarwal makes a u-turn decision

Mr Agarwal said if elected, he would have finished his term as a county councillor even though he would move to Swindon.

He added that as Stanwell is on the drive from Westminster to Swindon, and because his mum lives in the village, he said he would still serve Spelthorne and be able to cope with the double work load, liking it to juggling his councillor's roles and working at Heathrow full time.

Talking to Staines News on Thursday January 21, Mr Agarwall said he had misunderstood the questions asked to him last week.

He said: "There is a lot of work in being in MP, so I will be giving up my seat as a councillor because I will be living in Swindon."

Asked why he changed his mind, he said: "It was something I only realised after I spoke to the newspaper, and when I looked at the article I thought I will be living in Swindon so it would be unfair to cover both areas."

Stanwell residents and councillors had previously called Mr Agarwal to stand down from his Surrey seat if elected, because they felt Stanwell has a lot of issues, and would suffer if their councillor was living elsewhere.

They also felt he shouldn't have run for office last May if he had ambitions to become an MP, but Mr Agarwal defended himself, stating that running for office in Swindon was on the spur of the moment.

Speaking to the Swindon Advertiser, Mr Agarwal's conservative opponent for the seat Justin Tomlinson said he needs to be clear on where his priorities lie.

He said: "The opportunity to represent residents in North Swindon is not a game. He can't have it both ways."