LABOUR’s candidate for the North Swindon Parliamentary seat has backtracked on his plans to keep his seat on Surrey County Council even if he is elected in Swindon.

Victor Agarwal is currently the councillor for Stanwell and Stanwell Moor and told his local paper that he would keep his council seat for the next three years, even if he was elected as MP.

He told the Surrey Herald that he already has a full time job in Heathrow Airport and still manages to find time to work on issues in the village.

He said: “If I become elected, being an MP will become my full time job, and as I already juggle my job with council work it will not be much different.

“I do plan to move to Swindon if elected, but Stanwell is my home, and my mum still lives here, so I will be back to visit and deal with issues all the time.

“The drive from Westminster to Swindon also goes through Stanwell as well, so I can pop in at any time.”

But speaking to the Adver Mr Agarwal claimed he had misunderstood the reporter’s question and promised he would relinquish his council seat if he triumphed in Swindon.

He said: “I will be living in Swindon and be working fulltime there.

“I want to be a full-time MP for Swindon – that’s my commitment.

“I will give up the Surrey seat if I am elected.”

If he loses the election Mr Agarwal said he would remain in his councillor role.

His Conservative opponent from the seat Justin Tomlinson said Mr Agarwal needed to be clear on where his priorities lie.

He said: “The opportunity to represent my fellow local residents in North Swindon is not a game and he needs to put some serious thought into this.

“He can’t have it both ways. He has to be honest, not just with Swindon residents but his constituents in Stanwell and it appears that he has been caught out saying two different things.

“This is not a promising start - especially when we are trying to restore trust and honesty in politics.”

Coun Tomlinson confirmed that he would give up his own role as councillor for Abbey Meads if he was elected North Swindon MP.